Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle
by Doran Maya
Summary: A sequel in my "Legendary Witches" series and a crossover/collaboration with Atikabubu's "The Chosen One" series. Kye Miyafuji and Toshiro Edelweiss meet and hijinks, good fun, and rivalries ensue, not to mention some serious business, of course!
1. Chapter 1: Welcome Toshiro

**Disclaimer: We do not own the Strike Witches franchise or any of the concepts and characters of said franchise. I do own all of the OCs and concepts created by me for this story. Atikabubu owns all OCs and concepts created by him for this story. This disclaimer covers every chapter that has been or will be released for this story.**

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Hello! Welcome to _Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle_! This story is a sequel to _Legendary Witches 1: Worldwide Liberation_ and _Legendary Witches 2: Return_ and a crossover with Atikabubu's _The Chosen One_ series! This collaboration project has been in the works for several months as of the release of this chapter.**

**The prologue to this story appears in Chapter 22 of _The Chosen One: Toshiro X_ by Atikabubu. Make sure to check out his work to better know Toshiro in this story! As this is a collaboration project, Atikabubu and I have given each other full permission to use each other's original characters and concepts, provided the content is approved by both. For those of you reading this for Toshiro, you may return to _The Chosen One: Toshiro X _once you finish Chapter 38 of this story.  
**

**If you are a reader of The Chosen One series and do not want to read the rest of the Legendary Witches series to know what's going on, please PM me. I can catch you up. And vice versa, if you are a Legendary Witches reader and don't want to read The Chosen One, PM Atikabubu for his information (mostly about Toshiro).  
**

**Aya Edelweiss is a character from Atikabubu's _Fate of Lehistan: Cold War Crisis_, a sequel to the Chosen One Series. Her first appearance is at the end of Chapter 17.**

**Links to drawings for the various eye designs that appear in this story can be found in my profile. Links to drawings for Oblivion Lost, Armageddon, and Cataclysm can be found in both my profile and in Atikabubu's profile. Links to a drawing of Kye's white outfit that appears in Chapters 37 and 38 can be found in my profile. Links to the original music written by me that appears in Chapter 24 can be found in my profile.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Key/Legend**

Normal text is story content

**Bold (thicker) texts are notes, titles, and headers**

**"Reppuzan!" -** techniques and spells will be bolded as well.

_Italics (slanted) texts are thoughts of the character currently telling the story, or in the case of a third person point of view narrative this represents usually the most recent character to speak or most relevant character when included in a normal paragraph._

"Text with quotations is character dialogue."

_"Dialogue entirely in italicized text is dialogue within a character's thoughts."_

_**"Dialogue that is entirely in italicized and bold font is telepathic communication."  
**_

Single words that are _italicized_ are words with emphasis. Words of emphasis also may appear in dialogue or thoughts.

_Single words that are _normal_, but appear in an italicized sentence are also words with emphasis._

"Quoted" text within sentences is not dialogue, but may appear as a short quote within dialogue.

""Dialogue may sometimes also contain quoted dialogue," he says."

"Dialogue from a single character may span multiple paragraphs such as this.  
"While they won't be single spaced in the content, they are to make this easier to see in the key/legend.  
"Briefings and Post Mission text will appear like this.  
"Every consecutive paragraph spoken by a single character will have an opening quotation.  
"Only the final consecutive paragraph spoken by the character will have a closing quotation.  
"As this example shows."

* * *

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 1: Welcome Toshiro**

* * *

**-Timeless Zone-**

As Toshiro and Amaterasu stepped out of the portal, Toshiro found that he was in an odd place. It was some kind of old stone looking building, and the whole place was a dull grey. There were no lights anywhere, but everything was lit.

Toshiro looked at Amaterasu for answers, but she just shrugged. "Every god has their own preferences."

Kaylie stepped out of the portal only moments behind them and immediately moaned.

"Goddammit, Layla," she mumbled, just loud enough for her two guests to hear. She raised her voice and shouted, "MOM!"

As if by some sort of miracle, the old stone decor transformed into a slick beautiful white marble decor.

"What..." Toshiro looked blankly at the shiny new marble.

"My prankster twin sister decided to morph my place into crappy stone. She does it a lot and knows it takes me longer to fix it that it does her to mess it up, but I don't have time - despite this being a timeless zone - to mess with it, so I yelled for Mom. She fixed it up in a jiffy, didn't she?"

""A jiffy," she says." Toshiro sighed.

"Anyway, come on." Kaylie started walking toward a set of ten foot tall marble doors. "We're in the Realm of Gods in my universe now. My personal dimension here is immune to time. This room is where I control the flow of time and monitor for mortals who, through some stroke of luck, are born with abnormally powerful time and/or space magic."

"Would I..."

"Your magic is time dilution, not straight up time magic. What I mean is, I look for people who can fast forward, completely stop, and reverse time. If you get one, you get all three. Of course, a bigger, but rarer, problem are mortals who can freely jump into the time stream and take a little trip. I have to catch them before they exit the time stream, which is never a problem."

"Yeah...?"

"And mortals with space magic usually aren't a problem. They're hardly ever born with strong enough magic to let them do much, but a powerful space magic user can sorely fuck up the universe. You could suddenly find a black hole moved to Earth's orbit... and you can see why that'd be a problem."

"Yeah...?"

"Bored much?"

"Your explanation was not necessary."

"Take my fun," she pouted, "but anyway, we need to go to Earth. You didn't come here just to hang out in my humble abode. I'll give you the option of what year we go to. You can pick from 1953, 1955, 1957, 1960, 1962, 1965, and 1968."

"Why not sooner or later?"

"Not sooner is because the Neuroi still existed in this world before 1952, and not later is because... well no reason in particular. I suppose we could go to any year you want beyond 1953."

"Let's just go to 1953 I guess..."

"Alright." She held her arm out and gestured for the two guests to grab ahold.

Amaterasu grabbed a hold, but Toshiro raised an eyebrow. "What happened to using a portal?"

"Pfft, I only need portals for inter-universal travel."

"You say that as if you've done it a lot."

"Eh... I come to visit your world frequently, though I usually keep myself hidden from mortals so they can't see, hear, or touch me."

"At least... ah never mind." He took her arm and was instantly transported to the Yokosuka Naval base.

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

Toshiro started to walk around, but bumped into an invisible barrier.

"One second, Toshiro," Kaylie said. "Ami, you look too inconspicuous. Most mortals don't know..."

"I know," she interrupted. In a blink of an eye, Amaterasu's usual kimono transformed into a purple tailor made dress, her hair was now tied up in a single pony tail, just like Toshiro's, and she even added a pair of simple glasses.

Toshiro watched the scene unfold with eyes wide open and a blank mind.

"How do I look?"

"Much better! You look like the secretary of some fat cat," Kaylie said as she disabled the invisible barrier. "Now where are they...?"

"Who?" Toshiro asked, but before Kaylie could answer him, he saw the love of his life standing at the edge of the dock. "Yoshika?"

He ran over to her without even noticing the black haired girl of similar height, that Yoshika had a young brown haired girl of about five years in front of her, or that the black haired girl was holding a baby.

"Yoshika!" he hollered as he ran up behind her. He started to notice the company she had, and that she was visibly taller and more mature looking than he remembered, but that didn't stop him.

Yoshika turned to see who had called her name. "Oh, hello. Do you need healing?"

"Huh?"

"Oh, sorry. Everyone knows who I am, so I'm used to being approached by strangers who need healing." She extended her hand to him. "I'm Yoshika-

"-Miyafuji," Toshiro finished. He felt odd being treated as a stranger by Yoshika, but quickly remembered he was not in his own world. "My name is Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss, but I usually drop the two middle parts. Pleased to meet you."

The two shook hands.

"Likewise. If I may ask, what brings a Karlsland General to the Yokosuka Naval Base? Usually, we go to a capitol city or Neurida for our meetings."

"Neurida?"

Yoshika glanced past Toshiro and saw Amaterasu and Kaylie approaching. "Oh, Kaylie."

"You know her?"

"She's my cousin."

_ "What?"_

_ "Different world, Toshiro. But I'm surprised with this, too."_

"That's right, Toshiro. Yoshika and I are cousins," Kaylie mused, "so to speak."

"Does he know...?" Yoshika asked.

"Yeah, he knows. I brought him here."

"Oh, I see."

"Momma, who's he?" The young brown haired girl asked.

_ "What...?"_

_ "Different world, Toshiro. Some of the girls are bound to be mothers by 1953."_

"Actually, all of them are." Kaylie said.

"You can hear our mental conversations?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah."

He sighed. _What is this, the twenty first century already…?_

"His name is Toshiro."

Toshiro bent down and spoke softly. "Hi, I'm Toshiro Edelweiss."

"And I'm Ayame Miyafuji!"

"It's nice to meet you Ayame."

"Can I have a piggy back ride please?"

"Ayame!" Yoshika said. "It's impolite to..."

"Oh, there's no harm in it" Toshiro said as he stooped down further and allowed the little girl to climb on his back.

As he rose up, he found the black haired girl holding the baby holding her hand out to him. "I'm Rei, and this is my daughter, Kamiko."

_ They have the same first names as my great grandmother and grandmother._

"Toshiro." He shook her hand.

"Oh look, there's Kye," Yoshika said, pointing to the sky.

A blonde haired, Fuso Navy Officer uniform clad woman descended from the sky.

_ No striker. What?_

She landed in front of them with three others close behind. Toshiro noticed something different about the three. One was a young woman clad in plain blue and black clothing with bright, inhuman blue eyes. Another was a young woman clad in similar clothing, albeit green and black, with bright, inhuman green eyes. And the last was a young man clad in red and black with bright, inhuman red eyes. Their hair colors matched their eyes and clothing, being a mix of their primary color and black.

_ They look like..._

Toshiro sat Ayame down and turned angrily to Kaylie. "I thought you said there were no more Neuroi in this world!" He summoned Aganaimaru and rushed toward the now surprised three Neuroi-like people.

Before he could get to them, Yoshika cut him off, clad in a multi-colored rainbow aura of magic, and pinned him to the ground.

"I cannot let you harm them." She took his sword, which didn't transform to its rusty state, and broke it in two, a feat that left Toshiro utterly surprised.

"Wh-what? How...?"

Kaylie appeared next to them and helped him to his feet. "Toshiro, they are not Neuroi, though two of them once were. In this world, the God of Darkness, Zen Akari, transformed a large portion of the human Neuri Tribe into Neuroi. Only recently were they reverted back to their human form."

"Neuroi turning into human beings... This is getting weirder by the minute."

"You're Toshiro, right?" Kye asked as she offered her hand to him. "I've been expecting you."

"I recognize you," he said. "Kye Akari, isn't it?"

"Close. Kye Akari is my immortal counterpart. I am Kye Miyafuji. I hate to sound rude, but we need to get going. If you'll join us, I can sit down with you and explain everything once we arrive in Karlsland."

"You're going to Karlsland?"

"Today is the reunion," Kye explained. "The Strike Witches meet once every four months."

"That's not a bad idea," Toshiro mused. "I'll have to keep that in mind for my world."

"You do that. Since you're not from this world, I assume you don't know how to use the Magic Aura, and therefore cannot fly without a striker."

He raised his eyebrow. "If only..."

"Alright then, hmm," she turned her attention to the green clad Neuri. "Xiani, is the long distance transporter ready?"

"It's ready, but we haven't set up any receivers yet."

"I'll just poof him over there," Kaylie said.

"That solves that problem."

"What about our _tradition_?" Rei asked before shooting Toshiro a mischievous glance. "I'm sure Toshiro will get a kick out of it."

"What will I get a kick out of?"

Yoshika drew the sword from her back and stepped up to the edge of the dock. "This." A dull golden aura flared to life around her body and slowly morphed to a bright green, then bright blue, then dark red, then white, and finally a bright shining gold. She raised her sword and began to speak, but Kaylie interrupted her.

"Hold on, Yoshika!" Kaylie said as she raised her hand and formed a barrier of space magic around everyone shortly before teleporting them away. She moved them to a beach roughly six and a half kilometers southeast. "We don't want you destroying anything back at the base. Go ahead."

"**Reppuzan!**" Yoshika discharged an enormous Reppuzan across the bay, leaving it split clear down to the sea floor and splashing water well over five hundred meters high and almost two kilometers long.

"Oh that." Toshiro rolled up his proverbial sleeve and stepped to the edge of the dock, but then he remembered that Yoshika had broken his sword in two. "Aganaimaru..."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Yoshika quickly apologized. She took the two pieces back, held them together, and then flared her rainbow colored magic again. The rainbow magic covered the blade momentarily before Yoshika handed it back to Toshiro in one piece.

"And just like that..."

"True Zen Magic is very powerful," Kaylie said. "Yoshika is unique in this world in that she is a mortal that wields the power of a god, albeit on a smaller, mortal appropriate scale."

"I should have never agreed to come here..." Toshiro sighed. "Anyway..." He took the sword and turned to the water. He released his Sacred Flame at its most powerful and focused his magic. "**SHIN REPPUZAN!**"

The attack zipped through the water like a hot knife through warm butter. Toshiro's attack didn't do quite the show Yoshika's had, but it still threw water up roughly hundred meters and managed to split it several hundred meters out.

He dispelled his sword as he slumped down, catching himself with his arms before he completely fell on his back, and breathed heavily. "Whew... Well, that's about all I can pull off without endangering my life."

"That was rather impressive for one not trained in the techniques of this world," Kaylie said. "I'd say you are an even match for an experienced white aura clad witch. That was definitely strong enough to match one of the Neuroi Queen's guards in 1945."

"Neuroi Queen? Is there a Neuroi Queen in my world?"

"Can't tell you."

"Goddamn god rules."

"Anyway, Rei?"

"My turn," Rei said. She handed Kamiko to Kye, drew her sword, and took to the edge of the dock. "Show them your power, Tenraimaru."

_"Perfect Divinity? That sounds a little arrogant."_

_ "Don't forget that the "maru" part can mean perfect or it can just signify that it's a name."_

_ "Right... Well let's hope it just means name in this case."_

Rei looked straight into Toshiro's eyes as if staring knives through him. "It means Perfect Divinity. I was nine when I received the sword, so you'll have to excuse me. Of course, if you'd like, I can show you my Legendary twin swords."

"Rei!" Kye said sharply.

_How many people here can read my mind?_

"Fine, fine. I'll let him figure it out later." She sighed. A bright transparent yellow aura suddenly engulfed her body. "But I'm using my Light Aura."

"How many friggin' auras do you people have?"

"We used to believe that the Light Aura was a Stage Six Energy Projection Aura, on par with the True Golden Aura that Yoshika used when she launched her Reppuzan a few moments ago," Kye explained. "However, we now know that, like my Zen Aura, the Light Aura is Rei's Magic Aura. There are six Energy Projection auras, all of which you saw Yoshika display, and there is also the Magic Aura, which usually is superior. The Magic Aura is different for each witch, and some witches, such as Yoshika and myself have multiple, as rare as that is."

"Too long, didn't read... too damn many," Toshiro said.

"Clever."

"Anyway... I'll be taking my turn now," Rei said. "**Seiken (Holy Sword)**!"

Rei launched an immensely powerful, albeit small, blast of light from her sword at an incredible speed. The blast generated a sonic boom and traveled out into the middle of the bay before stopping. Her attack didn't cut into the water, and the splash it threw up was rather small, being no more than five meters tall.

"That was anticlimactic," Toshiro said with dull eyes.

Rei snapped her fingers. As she did, the blast of light she launched from her sword exploded violently, sending a powerful shockwave out in all directions and throwing up water several kilometers high. The shockwave dissipated in strength by the time it reached the docks, though it still had enough power to almost knock a person off their feet. As the water fell back down, it was almost like rain was falling.

_ "I wonder if I can do that with the Sacred Flame..."_

_ "It's certainly a thought, Toshiro, but you'd have to train for a while to do that."_

_ "Or maybe I could cheat and play with a cannon and fire at the same time..."_

_ "I have a bad feeling about that..."_

_ "As you should, Yuki. I came up with the idea after all."_

_ "If I could sigh in your head, I would. In fact, I'm sighing right now."_

_ "Yeah, yeah."_

"I would like a turn," the Neuri girl clad in blue said. A blue and black sword with a hexagon pattern formed in her hand.

_ "Neuroi..."_

_ "Heel, Toshiro."_

_ "I'm not a damn dog!"_

_ "I don't know... you have desecrated a lot of girls..."_

_ "I prefer to look at it as enlightening them."_

_ "Uh huh..."_

Before she took her turn, the blue Neuri girl walked up to Toshiro and extended her hand. "I am Xala, Leader of the Blue Neuri Tribe. I understand your discomfort toward Xiani, Xale, and I, but I assure you we are not bad."

He gritted his teeth and forced a response without shaking her hand. "We'll see."

"Fair enough, I suppose. I know very well what kind of monstrous acts the Neuroi were capable of, having been one myself until one year ago, so I cannot blame or judge you for your discontent toward my kind. However..." Xala slowly reached for Toshiro's hand and pulled it to her chest, which was somewhat flat.

_ "B-Cup at best."_

_ "Really, Toshiro? Why am I even surprised."_

Ignoring Yuki, Toshiro asked Xala, "You're putting my hand on your boob?"

"Pervert," Rei muttered.

"Despite being different from you, we are still alike," Xala continued, disregarding Toshiro's comment. She held his hand tightly against her chest.

"A heartbeat..."

"The Neuri Tribe is an ancient race of humans. I have a heart just like you. I have blood running through my body. I breathe air just the same. I _am_ human."

"You are weird."

"There is no such thing as normal when it comes to humanity, and at the same time, normal is all there is."

_That's deep..._ Toshiro scratched his head and came up with a question. "Does that mean you reproduce the same?"

Almost instinctively, Xala moved her free hand to her panties as if protecting herself. She blushed as she answered. "Yes..."

_How 'bout that..._

Xala quickly regained her composure and took her place at the edge of the dock. "Anyway..." She raised her sword up, but didn't mutter a word as she launched a blue beam of energy from the swing of her sword.

Her attack had a different effect than the previous attacks. Instead of cutting deep into the water or splashing water up high, it merely zoomed along the surface until it dissipated halfway out into the bay. Along the space where the beam traveled, steam rose from the water.

"Did you just boil the water?" Toshiro asked.

Yoshika floated into the air, hovered over the water, and stuck her finger in it. She glowed in rainbow magic for a brief moment. "She raised the temperature of the entire bay by about twenty degrees, and I'd bet the water gets gradually hotter as you move closer to the beam's travel path."

_ Will my Yoshika be this smart in eight years?_

Xala dispelled her blade and turned back to Toshiro with a warm smile. "Different, but the same."

Toshiro offered his hand to Xala this time, a gesture she took. "I'm not saying I trust your kind, but this is a good start."

"That will do for now," Xala replied.

Kye handed Kamiko back to Rei and stepped up to the plate. She merely held her hand out. Toshiro started to wonder what she was doing, but when a sword suddenly appeared in her hand, he figured it out.

"Mom, you're a hypocrite," Rei mumbled.

"Do as I say, not as I do."

Engraved on the blade near the hilt was the kanji for Jouten, 上天. The silk wrapping on the hilt was dark purple, and the blade itself had a perfect curve to it.

"Stand back," Kye said as she walked up to the edge of the dock. As she activated her magic, an intense silver aura flared into life around her body. The hilt wrapping on the sword she held changed color to match the aura.

"That's the Zen Aura," Kaylie said.

"**Zen Reppuzan**."

Kye's attack was even more brutal than Yoshika's. It dug all the way to the sea floor and split the water wide enough to drive four lanes of vehicles through it, and the walls of water on either side extended over a kilometer high from the water's surface and extended over four kilometers out.

"The Bible called, they want their Moses back," Toshiro said straight-faced, earning a bit of laughter from everyone.

"Alright, you've had your tradition." Kaylie said as she pulled Amaterasu over to Toshiro. "See you in Karlsland!" She grabbed Toshiro with her free hand and vanished with the two, whisking them away to Karlsland.

* * *

**Character Profiles**

**Note: **Listed below are the profiles of our favorite girls to tide you over, as well as a few other important characters. Do know that the 501st girls are 8 years older in this story than their canon counterparts in 1945, so their heights and other bodily statistics will be more mature. Since the 501st girls are canon characters, I will not guess what said statistics will have grown to after eight years, so that's up to your imagination. The several character profiles listed AFTER the canon 501st girls (starting with Kye Miyafuji) are all original characters owned by myself or Atikabubu (he owns Toshiro), so those profiles are much more detailed.

**Note 2: **There are two profiles for Kye for a simple reason: there are two Kye's. There is the Mortal Kye Miyafuji and the Goddess Kye Akari, and both are major characters in the story.

**Yoshika Miyafuji  
**Date of Birth: 18 August 1929  
Gender: Female  
Age: 23  
Children: Ayame Miyafuji  
Familiar: Mameshiba named Kuji Kanesada  
Inherent Magic: Healing Magic  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ultimate Healing Magic  
Elder Inherent Magic: True Zen Magic  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Tenshimaru (Enchanted Katana); Gaia, the World Guardian (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Retired  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: The Prodigal Witch

-x-

**Mio Sakamoto  
**Date of Birth: 26 August 1924  
Gender: Female  
Age: 28  
Children: Nori Sakamoto  
Familiar: Doberman  
Inherent Magic: Magic Eye  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Obliteration  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Reppumaru (Enchanted Katana)  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Major General (2 Star)  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Samurai

-x-

**Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke  
**Date of Birth: 11 March 1926  
Gender: Female  
Age: 27  
Children: Alina Wilcke  
Familiar: Gray Wolf named Krawatte  
Inherent Magic: Area Analysis  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Area Destruction  
Non-Inherent Magic: Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Glaive  
Firearm choice: Rheinmetall MG 3 (Machine Gun)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Lieutenant General  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Ace of Spades, Fürstin

-x-

**Gertrude Barkhorn "Trude"**  
Date of Birth: 20 March 1926  
Gender: Female  
Age: 27  
Children: Sieglinde "Linda" Barkhorn  
Familiar: German Shorthair Pointer  
Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ultimate Strength  
Non-Inherent Magic: Unarmed Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Gauntlets  
Firearm choice: Rheinmetall MG 3 (Machine Gun)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Major  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: The True Soldier of Karlsland

-x-

**Erica Hartmann**  
Date of Birth: 19 April 1927  
Gender: Female  
Age: 25  
Children: Isabel Hartmann I  
Familiar: Dachshund  
Inherent Magic: Wind Magic "Sturm"  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Wind Magic "Großer Sturm"  
Non-Inherent Magic: Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Glaive  
Firearm choice: Rheinmetall MG 3 (Machine Gun)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Black Devil

-x-

**Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"**  
Date of Birth: 13 February 1927  
Gender: Female  
Age: 26  
Children: Allison "Ally" Yeager  
Familiar: Rabbit  
Inherent Magic: Speed Magic  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Speed Control  
Non-Inherent Magic: Gun Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: N/A  
Firearm choice: The Yeager Master (Enchanted Light Machine Gun)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Major  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Glamorous Shirley

-x-

**Francesca Lucchini**  
Date of Birth:  
Gender: Female  
Age: 21  
Children: Luciana Lucchini  
Familiar: Black Panther  
Inherent Magic: Sunlight Strike  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Explosion Strike  
Non-Inherent Magic: Unarmed Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Gloves  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Retired  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Boob Devil

-x-

**Pierrette-Henriette Clostermann "Perrine"**  
Date of Birth: 28 February 1929  
Gender: Female  
Age: 24  
Children: Louise Henriette Clostermann I  
Familiar: Chartreux  
Inherent Magic: Lightning Magic "Tonnerre"  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Lightning Magic  
Non-Inherent Magic: Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Clostermann Family Enchanted Rapier  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Lady of Gallia

-x-

**Lynette Bishop  
**Date of Birth: 11 June 1929  
Gender: Female  
Age: 23  
Children: Diana Bishop  
Familiar: Scottish Fold  
Inherent Magic: Ballistic Stabilization  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ballistic Missile  
Non-Inherent Magic: Gun Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: N/A  
Firearm choice: A Modified 25MM Shockwave Rifle named "The Bishop Special" (Enchanted Rifle)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Active  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: The Marksman Witch

-x-

**Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen**  
Date of Birth: 21 February 1928  
Gender: Female  
Age: 24  
Children: Aina Ilmatar Juutilainen  
Familiar: Black Fox  
Inherent Magic: Foresight  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Influence  
Non-Inherent Magic: Bow Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Longbow  
Firearm choice: Rheinmetall MG 3 (Machine Gun)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Retired  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: Diamond Ace, Eila the Evasive

-x-

**Aleksandra "Sanya" Vladimirovna Litvyak**  
Date of Birth: 18 August 1930  
Gender: Female  
Age: 23  
Children: Anastasiya Viktoriya Litvyak  
Familiar: Black Cat  
Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Advanced Radar  
Non-Inherent Magic: Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Enchanted Warhammer  
Firearm choice: Fliegerhammer (She rarely actually uses it anymore due to preferring martial combat now)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: First Lieutenant  
Military Status: Retired  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Seven Hives, One Base  
Nickname: White Lily of Stalingrad

-x-

**Kye Miyafuji**  
Date of Birth: December 10, 1917  
Gender: Female  
Age: 27 (As of summer 1945)  
Physical Age: 20  
Height: 175.26 CM or 5ft 9in  
Weight: 54.43kg or 120lbs  
Eye Color: Silver  
Hair:  
-Color: Light Golden Blonde  
-Length: Waist  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Ponytail usually, Natural sometimes  
Children: One girl - Rei Akari  
Favorite Color: Dark Purple  
Favorite Food: Nothing specific, but prefers Liberian or Fusojin  
Favorite Sport: Hit ball into space (Baseball batting using her powers)  
Familiar: Black Wolf  
Inherent Magic: Alignment Power Magic (Light, Neutral, Dark, and Zen Power Magic)  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Alignment Power Magic (Light, Neutral, Dark, and Zen Power Magic)  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Jouten (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Choice)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: General of the Allied Forces (5-Star)  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Five "Official" Hive Kills (One Solo), Few Classified Hive Kills, One Base  
Nickname: The Golden Witch

-x-

**Rei Miyafuji**  
Date of Birth: 1 September 1935  
Gender: Female  
Age: 17  
Physical Age: 17  
Height: 167.64cm or 5ft 6in  
Weight: 49.9kg or 110lbs  
Eye Color: Silver  
Hair:  
-Color: Black  
-Length: Hip  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Natural  
Children: One girl - Kamiko Miyafuji  
Favorite Color: Black  
Favorite Food: Liberion or Fusojin  
Favorite Sport: Football (Soccer)  
Familiar: Red Fox  
Inherent Magic: Alignment Power Magic (Light, Neutral, and Dark Power Magic)  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Alignment Power Magic  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Tenraimaru (Enchanted Katana); Tenrai and Tenshi, Twin Blades of the Divine Angle (Legendary Weapon Pair)  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Second Lieutenant  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Four Hive Kills, One Base  
Nickname: The Youngest Witch (Former)

-x-

**Kamiko Miyafuji**  
Date of Birth: 17 February 1953  
Gender: Female  
Age: 1  
Physical Age: 16  
Height: 167.64cm or 5ft 6in  
Weight: 49.9kg or 110lbs  
Eye Color: Silver  
Hair:  
-Color: Black  
-Length: Shoulder  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Natural  
Children: N/A  
Favorite Color: Green  
Favorite Food: Spaghetti (specifically made by Aliana "Shadow" Venturi)  
Favorite Sport: Football (Soccer)  
Familiar: Black Fox  
Inherent Magic: Alignment Power Magic (Light, Neutral, and Dark Power Magic)  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ultimate Light Power Magic  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Kouten (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: Machine Gun (No Specific Preference)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing (Temporary)  
Rank: N/A  
Confirmed Kills: Zero (Thousands from her time in the alternate future), No Hive Kills or Base Kills  
Nickname: KK

-x-

**Kaylie Maya**  
Date of Birth: 2 October 8003 BCE  
Gender: Female  
Age: 9955  
Physical Age: 18  
Height: 172.72cm or 5ft 8in  
Weight: 118lbs  
Eye Color: Blue  
Hair:  
-Color: Red  
-Length: Chest  
-Type: Wavy  
-Style: Natural  
Children: One girl - Yuko Miyafuji (Artificially created with her sister, Layla Maya)  
Favorite Color: Dark Green  
Favorite Food: Spaghetti  
Favorite Sport: No Favorite  
Familiar: White Wolf  
Godly Magic: Divine Time and Space  
Inherent Magic: Time and Space  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ultimate Time and Space  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Dailadon, Shifting Staff of Time (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: N/A  
Affiliation: Council of the Seven Stars, 511th Joint Fighter Wing Fuso Sector  
Rank: Captain  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, One Hive, One Base  
Nickname/Title: Goddess of Time and Space

-x-

**Layla Maya**  
Date of Birth: 2 October 8003 BCE  
Gender: Female  
Age: 9955  
Physical Age: 18  
Height: 172.72cm or 5ft 8in  
Weight: 118lbs  
Eye Color: Blue  
Hair:  
-Color: Red  
-Length: Chest  
-Type: Wavy  
-Style: Natural  
Children: One girl - Yuko Miyafuji (Artificially created with her sister, Kaylie Maya)  
Favorite Color: Dark Blue  
Favorite Food: Spaghetti  
Favorite Sport: No Favorite  
Familiar: White Wolf  
Godly Magic: Divine Creation and Destruction  
Inherent Magic: Creation and Destruction  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Ultimate Creation and Destruction  
Non-Inherent Magic: Enhanced Shields, Energy Projection, Blade Spells, Bow Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Alldealon, Shifting Bow of Destruction (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: N/A  
Affiliation: Council of the Seven Stars, 511th Joint Fighter Wing Fuso Sector  
Rank: Captain  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, One Hive, One Base  
Nickname/Title: Goddess of Creation and Destruction

-x-

**Xala**  
Date of Birth: 1 August 1905  
Gender: Female  
Age: 47  
Physical Age: 20 (Ages very slowly due to Neuri Tribe blood)  
Height: 172.72cm or 5ft 8in  
Weight: 51.70kg or 114lbs  
Eye Color: Blue  
Hair:  
-Color: Blue  
-Length: Shoulder  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Natural  
Children: N/A  
Favorite Color: Blue  
Favorite Food: Too Many!  
Favorite Sport: Too Many!  
Familiar: N/A (Not a Witch)  
Inherent Magic: Neuri Tribe Blue Energy  
Non-Inherent Magic: Neuri Tribe Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Energy Weapon (Materialized with her Energy), Xeridon, Greatsword of the Neuri Tribe (Legendary Weapon)  
Firearm choice: N/A  
Affiliation: Blue Neuri Tribe, Blue Neuri Team  
Rank: N/A (No Military Rank)  
Confirmed Kills: Thousands, Two Hives, One Base  
Nickname/Title: The Blue Wonder, Leader of the Blue Neuri Tribe

-x-

**Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss**  
Date of Birth: 5 May 1927  
Gender: Male  
Age: 18 (In his own timeline)  
Height: 195cm or 6ft 4.77in  
Weight: 110kg or 242.5lbs  
Eye Color: Red  
Hair:  
-Color: White  
-Length: Long  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Natural  
Children: N/A  
Favorite Color: Black  
Favorite Food: Chashu Ramen, Schnitzel  
Favorite Sport: Jogging  
Familiar: White Snake named Yuki  
Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A, Sacred Flame  
Ultimate Inherent Magic: Neither Achieved  
Non-Inherent Magic: Time Dilution (Yuki), Snake Magic (Yuki), Blade Spells  
Martial Weapon choice: Aganaimaru (Special Enchanted Katana)  
Firearm choice: Shoulder mounted cannons (Specific Choice is whatever his newest toy happens to be at the time)  
Affiliation: 501st Joint Fighter Wing  
Rank: Brigadier General  
Confirmed Kills: 415, Three Hives (One Solo)  
Nickname: T-Man

-x-

**Kye Akari/Alissa Maya  
**Date of Birth: 10 December 8028 BCE, Before Time  
Gender: Female  
Age: 9980, Timeless Age  
Physical Age: 20  
Height: 175.26cm or 5ft 9in  
Weight: 54.43kg or 120lbs  
Eye Color: Silver (Also: When not parading as a mortal, she has the Seven Star Symbol - an acute rainbow heptagram - inlayed over her irises)  
Hair:  
-Color: Light Golden Blonde  
-Length: Knee  
-Type: Straight  
-Style: Natural  
Children: Rei Akari, Jouten Akari, Kaylie Maya, Layla Maya  
Favorite Color: Dark Purple  
Favorite Food: Prefers American/Liberian or Japanese/Fusojin  
Favorite Sport: Hit ball into space  
Familiar: N/A  
Godly Power: True Zen Power (Everything in One)  
Martial Weapon choice: Jouten (Legendary Weapon)  
Affiliation: Council of the Seven Stars (Leader)  
Nickname/Title: Goddess of the Seven Stars


	2. Chapter 2: Berlin

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 2: Berlin**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

Kaylie, Toshiro, and Amaterasu appeared on solid concrete in the middle of an airbase in Berlin, Karlsland. Within a second of them appearing, Toshiro found his Sacred Flame activated, a double-layer shield erected to his left, a powerful force striking said shield, the same powerful force striking the left side of his face, and him flying several meters down the runway.

He zipped along the ground roughly half a meter in the air, but he managed to catch himself as he slowed down and landed on his feet when he finally came to a stop. "What the fuck...?"

He looked around and saw an amused Kaylie, a sighing Amaterasu, and a shocked Trude.

"I'm so sorry!" Trude yelled as she ran over to him. "Are you alright?"

He fell over on his butt and held a hand to his face. "Gods _DAMN_ it, that hurt..."

"I'm sorry!" Trude repeated as she pulled his hand back to survey the damage. She was surprised to see only a scratch on his face. "Whoa..."

"What? You surprised at how bad it looks?"

"I'm surprised at how unharmed you are after that."

"What?"

"You got off with only a scratch, and I hit you pretty hard."

"That punch was about four hundred and fifty thousand pounds of force," Kaylie chimed in.

_ Fuck this universe..._ Toshiro stood up slowly.

"Your shield absorbed about two thirds of it and your Sacred Flame protected you from_ most_ of the rest."

_ "Gods _damn_, she's strong in this universe..."_

_ "I'd bet they all are, Toshiro."_

"Why the fuck did I just get hit in the first place?"

"You sort of just appeared there in front of my fist," Trude said.

"Yeah, that's my bad," Kaylie added. "I teleported us a tad too close to her."

"Yoshika can fix that up for you when she gets here... they should be here in an hour or two."

"No need." Kaylie said. As she snapped her finger, an identical redhead wrapped in only a towel appeared next to her.

"Damn it, Kaylie!" The girl said.

_ Am I seeing double...?_

"You almost teleported me naked!"

"Shouldn't've messed with my crib."

"Shouldn't've teleported me to the moon while I was asleep."

"Shouldn't've messed with my crib the time before."

"Shouldn't've teleported me to Mars the time before."

"Shouldn't've messed with my crib the other time before."

"Shouldn't've..."

"Will you two shut up?!" a familiar voice called out.

Toshiro glanced over and saw Kye standing there, though she wasn't in her Fuso uniform this time. Instead she was wearing a purple and black kimono-like outfit with its bottoms shortened to a few inches above the knees and its sleeves a few inches above the elbow. Under the shortened kimono was a black body suit that covered everything underneath the kimono and extended down to roughly an inch above the knee.

"Uh... how'd you get here so fast?"

"Teleportation," the blonde answered without turning away from the formerly arguing redheaded twins. "Kaylie, shut it. Layla..." Kye snapped her fingers and suddenly Layla was wearing a Karlsland uniform identical to Kaylie's. "Clothes. And Toshiro..." She turned to him and snapped her fingers again. "No more scratch."

Toshiro felt his face where the scratch had been and found it void of any damage. "The fuck?"

Kye only looked him in the eyes. As he looked her in the eyes, he noticed something different. Only moments earlier, back in Fuso, her irises were silver. They were still silver, but now her eyes had some sort of symbol.

_ "Is that a rainbow colored, seven pointed star on each of her eyes?"_

_ "Shit just got real, Toshiro."_

Kye extended her hand to him as she spoke. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Toshiro."

"But we just met like... two minutes ago." He said, though he still shook her hand.

"Not quite. You met my mortal incarnation, Kye Miyafuji." She explained. "My name is Kye Akari, and I am the Goddess of the Seven Stars."

"That's quite the title."

"It matches the main universe in the multiverse I govern. The world you are standing in happens to be one of the universes in my multiverse."

"Wait, what?"

"Toshiro," Amaterasu said as she stepped forward. "This woman is the leader of the gods in this world, as well as the most powerful, even more so than myself."

"Copernicus, stop the Earth again, I want to go home. This is too much for one day..."

Kye grabbed his arm and vanished with him in tow.

"Do you mean this home?" she asked.

They were standing on the ground where the house he grew up stood. Before he could say a word, the two vanished again and reappeared in a similar place, but a house of fair size stood in front of them now.

"Or maybe this one?"

A young man with black hair came out of the house and said goodbye to his mother before running down the road, completely oblivious of Kye and Toshiro.

"Or maybe..." She whisked him away again, though this time, she appeared in front of a palace. "This one? We're standing in front of the Kaiser's palace."

The two vanished again and appeared back at their starting place in Berlin.

"That's not fair..." he mumbled dryly.

"Life's not fair, Kiddo."

"Maybe I should rephrase myself..."

"No need," she said. "Anyway, welcome to my world."

"Can I go back to my bath now?" Layla moaned.

Kye snapped her fingers and sent the redhead away.

"Just like that..." Toshiro mumbled.

Kye snapped her fingers again and it started raining. "Just like what?"

"Show off."

At another snap of her fingers, the rain stopped. "What's the point of having all this power if I can't have fun? For example..." She snapped her fingers again. This time, an enormous explosion filled the sky where the sun had previously been.

"And there goes the sun," Amaterasu sighed. "You know I'm the Goddess of the Sun in my world..."

"Wait... did the sun explode right when you snapped your fingers?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes," Kye answered.

"Then what? It would take eight minutes for us to see it."

"Nah, I made light speed up by a lot just then, too." Kye snapped her fingers again, this time causing time to freeze for everyone but her and the few people standing around her. Time reversed for a moment until the sun was once again intact. "No harm done."

"No harm? You blew up the sun."

"I could have blown up Earth or even the universe," she countered.

"Monster..."

"Yep. I'm the boogie... woman." Kye walked over to Amaterasu, took her wrist, and pulled her over to Kaylie. "So, Toshiro. Enjoy your stay. There's a little..._ Event_ planned later on that you will take part in, if you wish. In the meantime, I'm confiscating your goddess and taking her and Kaylie to the Realm of the Gods. Trudy, be sure to introduce Toshiro to the others. My mortal self will explain who he is and why he's here when she and the others from Fuso get here. In the meantime, go sightseeing or something. I believe Toshiro will like it."

"Sure," Trude said.

"For now, just treat Toshiro as what his uniform makes him out to be. Tell Minna I said that. Oh, and... Toshiro, you'll find a copy of all your gear from the plane inside Hanger C."

She vanished, along with Kaylie and Amaterasu, before he could respond.

"Hmm..." he mumbled.

"So, your name is Toshiro?" Trude asked. "I'm..."

"Hauptmann Gertrude Barkhorn?"

"It's Major now," she corrected. "So you're Karlslander, eh?" She glanced at his rank insignia. "Generalmajor, too. Impressive. How old are you, twenty one? Twenty two?"

"Eighteen, actually."

"You must be the youngest General in history."

"I am in my world."

"You would be here, too. Anyway, come on. I'll introduce you to Minna... or... You're from another world, right?"

"Yeah, I've already met you, her, and the rest of the 501st. In fact, I'm part of the 501st in my world."

"Hmm... well I guess I'll_ re_-introduce you?"

"Something like that, I guess," he said as the two started walking toward the largest building on the base. About the time they got halfway to the building, Toshiro spoke up again. "But say, Trude..."

"Yes?"

"I need some info on this world so I can establish some reliable background for me. At least until the mortal Kye gets here and explains shit."

"You're not going to reveal that you're from another world?"

"Not yet, and I'd like you to hold off as well if you can."

"I think I can keep quiet... So, what do you want to know?"

"Would a background like "Born in Fuso, emigrated to Neue Karlsland, promoted just a few days ago and traveling here for some R&amp;R" be viable?"

"How much of that is actually true?"

"I'm half Fusojin, and I was promoted just four days ago, according to my time. I was traveling to Belgica when the time-traveling redhead snatched me off my plane."

"I see... Well, it is believable, really. Our presence is still strong in Neue Karlsland, although most of the industry moved back to our Vaterland. But we usually receive General ranks in Berlin... Hmmm..."

"What if... I was bedridden?"

"Ah, that could work! But you would have to be seriously injured, and Yoshika is a miracle worker with her rainbow thing so it'd have to be recent. Four days should be recent enough."

"Heart condition. Nobody can verify it just like that."

"Other than Yoshika, nobody else. That's brilliant! I'm starting to like you..."

"Would you see the how our friendship started, sheesh..."

"Tell me?"

"Maybe later, okay?"

"Okay."

"Ah, one more thing!" Toshiro shouted. He pulled out his wallet and opened it in front of Trude. "Will these do here?"

She pulled out the wad of cash that was inside and examined it. "Nice stack of cash... You're in luck, Toshiro. The pound sterling still has the same design as during the war, so no problem with that."

"Whew... I thought I would have to bum off you or somebody else during the trip..."

"Heh... I would give you a few Reichsmarken anyway, since you're technically my friend."

"Yeah, technically, heheh..."

* * *

Trude lead Toshiro into the main building, through a hallway, and up a flight of stairs. They continued down the hallway on the second floor until Trude stopped and pointed at a door marked "General Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke".

_ Minna is a three-star here?! Whoa..._

"Enter," the voice of Minna called out before either of them could knock.

"How did she know?" Toshiro asked.

Trude didn't answer at first. She waited until both she and Toshiro were inside Minna's office. "Minna sensed us."

"Yes. Trudy, please tell me that the Goddess Kye, Kaylie, and Layla didn't appear in front of you outside a few moments ago."

"I'd have to lie, Minna."

"Ugh... gods again. And who is this?" Minna asked as she took a closer look at Toshiro rank insignia and epaulets. "A Generalmajor? Why have I never heard of you?"

"Well..." Toshiro mumbled. Trude took his spot and explained what happened outside moments ago, making sure to leave the part out where Toshiro is from another world, but instead explaining what the two came up with and adding that the mortal Kye would explain in detail when she arrived. Toshiro added that he was transported to Fuso for treatment, then Kaylie brought him to Berlin.

Minna rubbed her temple and sighed. "Alright. So you got sick right before your promotion, so they promoted you in Neue Karlsland, then you got cured in Fuso and a god teleported you here?"

"Right. If that's believable."

"It's believable for us."

"We've had some experience with the gods before," Trude added.

"So, Toshiro, you've already met the group in Fuso and you want an introduction with the rest of us here?"

"Please."

"Alright," Minna stood up, walked over to the PA panel on the wall, and made her announcement. "This is Lieutenant General Wilcke. All members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing are to report to the briefing room in the main building in five minutes. We have a_ guest_. Other witches are permitted to attend if they wish." She turned off the PA and looked toward Toshiro and Trude. "Let's go."

* * *

Toshiro soon found himself standing at the front of the briefing room with Minna standing at the podium. Trude took her place in the group of witches, sitting next to Erica.

As he glanced around the room, he found older versions of several friends and a few acquaintances. He saw Erica, Shirley, Francesca, Perrine, Lynette, Sanya, and Eila, the rest of the 501st. He also saw a few Karlsland witches, including Oberleutnant Ursula Hartmann, Major Hanna-Justina Marseille, Oberleutnant Raisa Pöttgen, Generaloberst Edytha Roßmann, Hauptmann Waltrud Krupinski, and Oberst Gundula Rall. He noted that Roßmann, Krupinski, and Rall were not wearing uniforms, but instead civilian attire with only a name tag with their rank insignia and last name pinned to their shirt.

_ "Yuki, any clue why they are different?"_

_ "It's 1953 here. They may be retired."_

_ "That makes sense. They're probably wearing those nametags while they are on base, but if they are retired, why are they on base to begin with?"_

_ "Kye mentioned a reunion."_

_ "She said it was a Strike Witches reunion."_

_ "Either they are Strike Witches, which I doubt, or they are just friends with them."_

_ "I'll go with the second option."_

Minna cleared her throat. "This is Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss. As odd as it sounds, he's new, but I was informed that Kye will explain the details when she arrives so we will hold off on that until then. In the meantime, he wants introductions. So starting from the left front, going right, then back, introduce yourselves please. Use NATO ranks, please."

Ursula stood up first. "First Lieutenant Ursula Hartmann, active soldier of Karlsland."

Erica stood up next. "First Lieutenant Erica Hartmann, active soldier of Karlsland."

Trude remained seated. "We've already met, but I'm an active soldier of Karlsland."

"Major General Mio Sakamoto, active soldier of Fuso."

_ Daayum..._

"Captain Perrine Clostermann, active soldier of Gallia."

"First Lieutenant Lynette Bishop, active soldier of Britannia."

"Major Hanna-Justina Marseille, active soldier of Karlsland."

"First Lieutenant Raisa Pöttgen, active soldier of Karlsland."

The first witch in the back row stood up next. "Major Charlotte E. Yeager, active soldier of Liberion. I go by Shirley."

_ "They're not all that different."_

_ "What did you expect?"_

_ "I don't know, honestly."_

"First Lieutenant Francesca Lucchini, retired soldier of Romagna."

_ "Except her. She's way too formal. She's also retired and wearing her normal uniform."_

_ "If I could shrug, I would be right now."_

"Captain Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, retired soldier of Suomus."

_ "Uniform... retired..."_

_ "Just wait until they finish."_

"Captain Sanya V Litvyak, retired soldier of Orussia."

Then the three Toshiro was curious about started.

"General Edytha Roßmann, retired soldier of Karlsland and member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing."

_ Four stars?! Double daayum!_

"Hauptmann Waltrud Krupinski, retired soldier of Karlsland and member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing."

"Colonel Gundula Rall, retired soldier of Karlsland and Commander of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing."

"And that's everyone present," Minna said. "General Edelweiss, would you like to say anything?"

"Sure. I know you've already introduced me, but I'd like to do it myself. I'm Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss. Please to meet you all."

"Pleased to meet you," everyone rang in unison.

"I'm curious," he said. "Why are three of you wearing civilian clothes? I thought it was because you're retired at first, which you confirmed that you are, but others are retired as well and are wearing their uniforms."

Edytha answered him. "It's customary for the Strike Witches to wear their uniforms to the reunion, even if they are retired. The rest of us don't."

"Simple answer. That clears that up nicely."

"I must ask, though," Edytha said as she jumped over the witch in front of her and walked up to Toshiro, "It was said that Kye will explain to us who you are, correct?"

"That's right."

"I've known Kye since I was a child. She has never mentioned you even once."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what to say..."

"Edytha, it was the Goddess Kye that told us to wait until the mortal Kye gets here to explain."

"Hmm..." Edytha sighed and went back to her seat. "Alright, then."

"Just like that?" Toshiro asked aloud.

"You kind of just take things as they come with Kye, especially when the Goddess Kye is involved," Mio said. "We learned that a while back."

"I see."

"Now that introductions are behind us, you are all free to go. We'll meet up in this room again when the entourage from Fuso arrives," Minna said. "Dismissed!"

As the other witches left to go about their own things, Toshiro turned to Trude and the other 501st Karlslanders and asked, "So I have a favor to ask..."

"Fire away, Toshiro," Trude said.

"Being a Karlslander, and it shames me a bit, but I've never been to Berlin..." He said while scratching his head. "So... If it wouldn't be too much to ask..."

"You want a tour?" Minna asked.

"Ah, yeah..."

"No shame in that, Toshiro. Many people are Karlslander, and they've only seen Berlin on the map. Erica, Trude, shall we go? We have almost two hours to burn."

"Sure! But only if we can stop and eat some sweets on the way!" Erica cheered.

"We'll have some ice cream at the end, okay?"

"Mmm... Not exactly what I wanted, but okay!"

"But this is interesting... You're a Generalmajor, and you really haven't been here? Not even to receive your promotion?" Minna asked with a suspicious look.

"Well... I was bedridden at the time in Buenos, so I couldn't receive my promotion with all fanfares," Toshiro lied blatantly.

"Alright, I suppose. Let's go."

* * *

They all went to the parking lot, where Toshiro saw many new car models, not present in his time.

"This is my car, Toshiro," Minna said. "Erica, you'll be driving."

"Whyyy meee..." she moaned.

"Because you're the lowest rank of us, that's why," Minna said with a grin, "and you're the best driver. Please, Toshiro, ride shotgun. You'll have trouble fitting in the back."

"Heh, guess I'm a big boy..."

"By the way, do you have a car of your own?"

"I'm used to being driven around, although I'm not against driving myself."

"I see. Well, my 170 S-D will hopefully cater to your taste?"

Toshiro looked at the black painted, four seater cabriolet made by Mercedes-Benz, judging by the emblem on the front.

"Look nice, must have cost a small wheelbarrow of money."

"Ah, well... With my position, it wasn't too bad. Only about a month's pay."

"Not bad..."

"Okay, everyone, let's go," Minna commanded.

Minna and Trude got into the back and Toshiro sat shotgun. Erica turned the key and the diesel engine came to life.

"Where to, Minna?" She asked.

Minna leaned over to her, and started whispering directions into her ear. Erica nodded a few times. "Okay, remembered. Here we go!" she shouted and pressed the accelerator to the max.

However, mysteriously, only the revs of the engine rose without the car moving.

"Handbrake..." Trude mumbled.

"Oh, heheh... My bad..." She released the handbrake and drove off.

* * *

As the car rolled through the streets, Toshiro looked at the brand new buildings, those that were renovated, and those that were still under construction. He was amazed to see girls in hardhats on some construction sites.

"Witches are helping to rebuild Berlin?"

"Yes, Toshiro. A witch can move where heavy machinery can't. Not to mention they're more reliable. They know their worth, however, so only the middle class and up can afford them." Minna explained.

"Ah, I see."

"Didn't know that?" Minna asked with a mysterious smile.

"I'm not that familiar with the news from Karlsland... As I told you, I'm barely a Karlslander in that regard, heheh..."

"Oh well, you must have had other things on your mind..."

"We're almost there, Minna," Erica said as she turned onto a very broad street.

"This is the Charlottenburger Chaussee Street," Minna explained, in a moment, you'll see the Tiergarten Park, which surrounds the street."

Just as Minna said, Toshiro saw an enormous, green park, through which the street shot through.

"Impressive... You could probably get lost here..."

Erica squirmed a bit behind the wheel.

"Oh, what is it, Erica? Remembering a dark day in your life?" Trude asked with a wry smile.

"Shush! Don't remind me of that!"

"What happened?" Toshiro asked.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing!" Erica denied while shaking her head.

"Our Blonde Knight of Karlsland was looking for a cat that a girl lost, and we had to find her instead," Trude sighed.

"Dawwww... How cute... Tough luck, but she_ was_ doing a good deed..."

"Thanks..." Erica mumbled. "A total stranger has more faith in me than my longtime friends..."

"Oh, what's that column?" Toshiro asked as he saw an enormous column with a gold figure atop.

"That's the Siegessäule. The figure atop is Victoria, the personification of victory."

"Or Nike," Toshiro said.

"Or Nike," Minna repeated with a smile.

Erica took a turn on the traffic circle and drove into a narrower side-street.

"And where are we going now?" Toshiro asked.

"The Berlin Zoological Garden," Minna told him.

"Oh? I've never been to a zoo before..."

"It's not only a zoo, it also has an aquarium."

"Oh, I want to see that!"

Erica drove into the parking lot next to a gate shaped like an elephant. Everyone got out and made their way toward the gate. Minna and Erica walked ahead, and Trude strolled with Toshiro a bit behind them.

"Hey, Toshiro...?" She asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"How well do we get along in your world?"

"We're always doing archive work together, but sometimes we clash over Erica."

"Hmm... Thought so... So we're best buds so to speak?"

"You could say so."

"And... And... Um... Err..." Trude's face reddened by the second.

"You only gave me a kiss as a goodbye when I was going to Fuso after the destruction of the Venezia Alpha Hive, if you're concerned about that."

"Ah, well... Okay..."

"Maybe later I'll tell you something interesting, but not now."

"What are you two birdies chirping on about in the back, huh?" Minna asked as she turned around to face Toshiro and Trude.

"Stuff." Toshiro answered. "Mostly..." He stopped as he saw a black haired beauty, which despite being eight years older still could cause the heart to beat faster. "Adi?"

"Hmm? Oh, Adolfine!" Minna cheered and waved her hand.

Adolfine spotted them as she was exiting the zoo and walked over.

"Hey, what a nice bunch we have here," she said. "And you've even picked up a nice hunk!" She eyed Toshiro up and down.

Toshiro looked at her epaulets and saw three pips placed on them.

_ "Hoooooly shiiiiiiiiiit! Adi's a Generaloberst here! Triple daaaaayuuum!"_

"Ah, we're touring Toshiro around the city, he's here for the first time."

"I don't remember seeing you..." She looked at him carefully. "But whatever, maybe you were in some backwater unit or something..."

"You could say so, ma'am," Toshiro answered.

"Since you're going to the zoo here, I'll give you a tip, free of charge. The currywurst they're selling in the buffet is the best."

"So that's why you're here every week?" Minna asked.

"Yeah. It's pricy, but nobody makes better currywurst than Herta Heuwer... Anyway, bye you all, I'm going to the OKW."

"Adolfine, make sure to come by the JSF base in about an hour and a half."

"Is that when Kye will arrive?"

"Roughly."

"Alright. I'll be there." Adolfine waved her hand and went to her car.

"That was... strange..."

"Why, Toshiro?"

"She didn't seem to bother with my rank..."

"Once you're in the caste of the Generals, nobody bothers," Minna shrugged.

They bought tickets for themselves and went on through the zoo. Toshiro was enjoyed by the lions, gazelles and all the other exotic animals. Then they went to the aquarium, where sharks, stingrays and other aquatic life forms reigned supreme.

Afterwards, they went to the famed buffet. It looked like a normal buffet to Toshiro.

"So, I'll be doing that currywurst thing... Anyone want something?" Toshiro asked.

"I'm still full after breakfast," Trude said.

"Me too," Minna said.

"Maybe a hamburger..." Erica pondered. "Yeah, a small hamburger."

"Okay then," Toshiro went to the buffet lady and ordered those. Since there was some promotion, he got two Cola's to boot.

"Mhhmmmm... This currywurst is nice," Toshiro said after eating a piece of sausage dipped in a specific sauce mix.

"The construction workers in Berlin love this," Minna said.

"I can see why, heh..."

* * *

After eating, they moved on from the zoo and went back to the car. Erica returned to the wide street and drove to the east.

"Ah, I see the Brandenburger Tor from here!" Toshiro cheered as he saw the enormous, six pillar gate.

"So you do know something about the town..." Minna said.

"_Something_, not everything. That's the fundamental difference. And come on, who doesn't know about_ that_ landmark..."

"I suppose... Look to the north along the street, you'll see the Reichstag there."

Toshiro indeed saw the Reichstag from the distance, just as they passed through the gate. He then turned around and looked at the quadriga atop of it, yet another rendition of Victoria.

"We're now on the Unter den Linden Boulevard and this is the Pariser Platz." Minna said and started pointing out the various buildings. "Adlon Hotel with the Britannian Embassy beside it, then the Ostmark Embassy... The Orussian Embassy..."

"A whole lot of embassies..."

_ Old McDonald had an embassy._

"It just sort of happened... There, the Komische Oper, the State Library, Humboldt University, a statue of Frederick the Great before St. Hedwig's Cathedral, the Alte Kommandantur and the Crown Prince's Palace and to the left, our destination here, the Neue Wache war memorial."

Toshiro looked at the neoclassical building which looked like some old ancient Romagnan temple, with two guards standing before the entrance.

"Come on, Toshiro, you have to get out first. You don't expect me to jump out of such a luxurious car like some Stilyagi, right?"

"Stilwhat?"

"I'll explain later... Erica, Trude, coming?"

"No, the inside always makes me gloom..." Erica answered.

"I'll skip too, don't want to mess up my day..." Trude said.

"Alright, then," Minna said.

After leaving the car, Toshiro couldn't help but wonder why they stayed behind. "What the hell is inside that building that made the two stay?"

"Nothing special, but you'll see."

The two went to the building. The two guards saluted and let them in through the gate. Inside, he could see a gray interior, with an oculus in the roof, through which the sun was shining on a black granite block with a black granite wreath atop of it.

"This is a war memorial. It's been here since 1931, Toshiro," Minna quietly explained.

"It's... empty..."

"Yeah... You have to stop and think about the emptiness in conjunction with all the dead it symbolizes. Just close your eyes..."

Toshiro did so. Almost immediately, he felt the same grim and sullen atmosphere that was on his mother's funeral.

_ How many people have died in this world? How many people have died in my world? How many people will die in my world...? I can almost hear the dead calling for retribution... Soon... Soon, everything will end... I hope..._

Toshiro opened his eyes and approached the wreath. He took off his cap and bowed his head.

"You must have somebody you lost..." Minna said while placing her hand on his right shoulder.

"Yeah... I'll tell you at some occasion..."

"You don't have to force yourself. Now, I'll take you to the oldest ice cream shop in Berlin to cheer you up."

"Heh... You think I'll eat away my feelings?"

"Worth a try," she replied with a small smile.

* * *

They returned to the car and Erica took them through half the city to the Florida Eiscafé.

"So, everyone, what will you have?" Minna asked.

"I'll take one of each!" Erica cheered.

"Have some dignity, Hartmann!" Trude yelled.

"Okay... Five scoops?"

"Ugh, I suppose..."

"Okay! Vanilla, pineapple, strawberry, lemon and chocolate for me!"

"I suppose I'll go all strawberry, three scoops." Toshiro said,

"One vanilla for me." Trude said.

"Chocolate and strawberry, one each."

Once their orders were filled, they sat in the corner of the shop. Before Toshiro could even nibble his ice cream, he felt a small, cold ring of steel through his shirt.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Toshiro asked.

"You're fishier than a moor on the Baltic. Who the hell are you?" Minna asked with a cold voice.

"Kye said she'll explain." Toshiro said calmly.

"The Goddess Kye brought you here and didn't bother with any timeline corrections. An eighteen year old Generalmajor would be announced far and wide. Even a civilian would know, especially when almost every household has a radio receiver and some even have a television set. ARD would be gloating about it for two days straight!"

"Minna, what are you doing?!" Trude protested.

"Stand down," Minna commanded.

Erica didn't say anything, but she was looking at them intently.

"Generalmajor Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss. I'm the Archduke of Pomerania and heir to the throne of Karlsland." Toshiro said calmly.

"Bullshit! The Kaiser doesn't have a son, nor any male relatives for that matter!"

"And who says that's true?"

"My common sense! Who are you? A spy? An immortal? Answer me!"

"Calm down, or I will have to resort to violence..."

"And what makes you think you would pull your own weight against the three of us?"

"Two. Trudy already knows who I am, so I doubt she'd intervene."

Minna looked at Trude dumbfounded.

"Trude... What's the meaning of this?"

"Toshiro, just tell her... And Erica... They can keep their mouths shut. They're going to find out when Kye gets here anyway."

"Awwww... And I wanted to overpower her and explain everything while pressing her throat against the blade of my sword... But I suppose I can do this peacefully..."

"Then start explaining!" Minna shouted.

"Really, Minna, stop aiming at Toshiro... He withstood a punch from me while I was using my Magic Aura... And he's Kye's friend..."

"Ugh... Alright..." Minna said as she pulled her gun away from Toshiro's ribs.

"Thank you, Minna. So, basically, I'm not of this world."

"Are you a god?" Erica asked.

"Nope, I'm a mortal, maybe a special kind, but when you prick me, I bleed."

"So, where is this _other world_ you came from?" Minna asked.

"It's another Earth, just like this one, in another universe. From what I know, there was no Kye, no Aura's, no nothing. This world seemed to branch off after Yoshika destroyed the Venezian Hive. Up to that point, it was probably more or less the same."

Minna and Erica looked curiously at him.

"Weird stuff I'm saying, huh?"

"Well... We're not strangers to weird..." Minna mumbled.

"So in my world, I'm the one I told you before. I was promoted four days ago, and given all those titles."

"Wait, wait... So in your world... You're who to the Kaiser exactly?" Trude asked.

"His nephew," Toshiro answered calmly, "and, Trudy, get this. In my world, I'm your cousin."

"Whoa, no way!"

"Yes, way... Wait a second..." Toshiro rummaged his wallet for something. "It's a photocopy of my family tree, take a look at it." Toshiro said as he placed the sheet on the table.

Trude quickly analyzed what was before her and said, "You really are... Unbelievable..."

"But beside that, what unit are you attached to?" Minna asked.

"Heheh... I've waited for that... Currently, the unit is disbanded, but I served my time in Britannia and Romagna, both under and over you, Minna."

"You were in the 501st?!"

"Yup. Now I'm the governor of the unit. I can call it back to existence if the situation will need it."

"Incredible, but how did the military allow a wizard to serve in a witch unit just like that? Regulations were different in the Second Neuroi War."

"I was special, you know - the first wizard in a whooooole lot of time. The IFN was bursting in their seams from pride."

"The IFN? So you were in the IFN before?"

"Yeah. I'm half Fusojin, and I've spent seventeen whole years in Yokosuka. My wizard powers manifested almost two months after my seventeenth birthday, and thus, my journey started. I could tell you many anecdotes, really... Oh, for example, Adolfine. We came really close to together in my world. She's working out by the way, and her body... Oy vey, she's so hot she would melt the polar ice cap."

"You're talking as if you did it..." Erica said with furled eyebrows.

"Who says I didn't?" Toshiro said with a wry smile.

"You did Galland? Hah! Who else?" Trude asked.

"Heh... Heheheheh... You really want to know?"

"Crap! I hope you didn't do me!?"

"No, no... We didn't get that close, I told you already. But Minna on the other hand..."

"What..." Minna said with a bleak face expression.

"And Mio... And Shirley... And somebody else... I won't tell. I have a fiancé by the way." Toshiro said and winked.

"Who is she?" Erica asked.

"I won't tell, even if tortured, heheh..."

Minna looked as if her soul was sucked away.

"Oh come on, Minna... It was fun, you consented and stuff. We actually had a foursome."

"Wha... Wha..." She nearly melted to the floor.

"Well, that was too much for her..." Toshiro mumbled. "Oh, and my Erica calls me bro."

"Huh, why?" Erica asked.

"She offered to be my ersatz sister. I believe it was after I told her the story of my life or something..."

"Well, I guess that's okay..." Erica shrugged. "I always wanted a brother to be honest... Oh, do you know Ursula?"

"Sure I do. She designed all my equipment, and we even worked together for a while in Neue Karlsland."

"Oh, how nice! I like you more and more, heehee..."

"I always buy my Erica sweets when she asks," Toshiro said with a devilish grin.

"Whoa, where do I sign up to be your sister?!"

"Bahahahahaha!" Toshiro laughed. "Calm down, Erica. Eat your ice cream, or it will melt away, heheh..."

Toshiro started poking Minna in the cheek. She seemed to regain her composure.

"That was unexpected..." She said. "Okay, maybe you'll save some of your stories for later? We should return already."

"Sure. But I want to keep my identity secret for now, okay? And I'll tell more stories about me later."

"Okay," Minna answered "I'll hold you to those stories, but for the love of God don't tell Mio that you've banged her... She might understand it awkwardly..."

"Ugh... if she's as strong as the other Fuso girls, I don't think I'd want to cross swords with her in this world..."

"Probably not."

* * *

After they finished their dessert, they returned to the car and made their way back to the base.

"Hey, Toshiro?" Minna asked as they got out of the car.

"What?"

"Could you show me how you'd overpower me? I'm really curious."

"Okay, but don't move your neck too much, my sword is sharper than sharp."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now turn around, I have to make it a bit more realistic..."

"Sure, sure..."

Toshiro turned around and felt the gun barrel on his neck. He diluted time by a hundred fold, jumped back on the boot of the car, while pulling out the gun from Minna's hand at the same time, pressed it against her neck, summoned Aganaimaru and held it to the front of her neck. Then he resumed the normal time flow.

Minna stiffened up only a second afterwards.

"Hey, not bad," Trude said while clapping her hands, "but get that cleaver off Minna's neck, I'm getting a bit nervous."

"Sure, Trudy."

"Ugh, don't call me Trudy as if we were family or something!"

"Somewhat we are, but whatever... So, Minna, good enough?"

Minna in turn exhaled deeply and said, "That was unexpected... What is this sword by the way?"

"Aganaimaru."

"Nice name, but a bit hard to pronounce. I guess it's a good blade?"

"It is... Oh it is..."

"Well, but that's that, the girls are probably waiting for us. And get those dirty boots off the boot!" Minna yelled and pushed Toshiro off the car, causing him to fall on his back.

"Ouch..."

"Oh, sorry..."

"Compared to Trudy's sucker punch, it's barely a mosquito bite..."

Toshiro got up and heard a faint, but familiar sound in the sky.

Minna's body glowed for a moment as she used her magic. "It seems our friends from Fuso are here."


	3. Chapter 3: His Own Medicine

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 3: His Own Medicine**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

Minna's body glowed for a moment as she used her magic. "It seems our friends from Fuso are here.

Erica and Trude exchanges glances with confident smiles and nodded. The Karlsland Trio quickly bolted toward the big hangar marked "Hangar B", leaving Toshiro confused as to what was going on.

Within seconds of the three disappearing into the hangar, they reemerged with Erica and Minna carrying glaives and Trude wearing special gauntlets. As the three ran out of the hangar, each was engulfed in a white aura of magic energy and jumped into the air with no striker.

_ They can fly without strikers, too? What the hell?_

As soon as the three took to the sky, three high-speed witches blew over base, leaving sonic booms in their wake. Toshiro saw that one was covered in a bright blue magic energy, another in a bright golden magic energy, and the third in a bright silver magic energy.

_ Those must be Yoshika, Kye, and... That black haired girl... what was her name...? Rei._

Minna, Trude, and Erica joined them quickly and matched their speed. Soon, the rest of the 501st flooded out of the main building. Each was carrying a melee weapon, except Lucchini, who was wearing unique gloves: Shirley, who was holding a unique glowing rifle; and Lynne, who was carrying an abnormally large sniper rifle. Each was engulfed in their own aura of magic energy as they jumped into the air and fell into formation.

_ "Yuki, I don't even know what to say."_

_ "Well, this is 1953, and from what I know, they've been through another war after the Second Neuroi War, though I don't know any details about it. They've got quite a bit more experience."_

_ "I wonder how much more."_

After a few minutes of the thirteen witches flying around in the sky, they met up above the base and veered off in thirteen different directions. After a few seconds, each turned around and discharged a blast of magic from their respective weapons, or fists for Trude and Lucchini.

Toshiro could hear a faint shout from one of the witches. "**Sturmkraft Brecher!**"

The thirteen blasts collided in the center of the witches high in the sky and exploded into sparks. The sparks formed into the emblem of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing.

_ "I don't care who you are... that was badass."_

_ "Yeah... I think you're right."_

The witches soon landed and lined up in front of Toshiro. As they landed, their individual magic energy cloaks dissipated.

"Hello again," Kye said as she stepped forward to him.

"That was pretty slick."

"Like that did you? Since you're a Strike... Wizard in your world, we could add you to that, though you would have to learn the Magic Aura first."

"Is that what all of you were using to fly with?"

Kye nodded. "Since you're not from our universe, and since you're from 1945 in your own universe, there's a lot of catching up for you to do. I can fill you in on the details later if you want. There's plenty of time before the big event."

"Are you going to give us any warning about the event you're planning?" Minna asked.

"Nope. I don't know much about it either, honestly. My Goddess self is setting it up."

Minna sighed.

Kye turned to Toshiro. "Anyway, there's a lot to do and I'm sure everyone wants to know who you are, so let's move along to the briefing room." Kye glanced back at Minna. "I assume that's where you told everyone to meet up?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"I have a question," Toshiro asked.

"Shoot."

"I noticed that all of you are carrying various melee weapons. Just how advanced are you?"

"One year ago, on April 5th, 1952, we were attending our reunion in Yokosuka. We were transported sixty years into the future by the Goddess Queen Xera to fight in the Third Neuroi War. However, due to how it played out, that is now an alternate future. During the nearly seven years between the Second Neuroi War and that, none of us neglected our training. During the Third Neuroi War itself, all of us grew much stronger to the point that we found ourselves, a few times, in massive battles with Neuroi numbering in the thousands."

"So you're basically a group of super witches."

"Something like that, but don't underestimate yourself. You aren't far behind where I was in 1945."

"And she destroyed a Neuroi hive in one blow," Mio added.

"I did singlehandedly destroy a hive in Neue Karlsland," Toshiro said.

"I heard about that," Kye said, "and don't be surprised, I get a lot of news about your world from my Goddess self. You've really burned through the ranks. You went from a Private to a Brigadier General in a year. I'm impressed. If you had the same amount of experience as us, I'd wager you'd be close to my level."

"You think so? I'm not so sure after watching that little Moses display back in Fuso."

"Oh, come on, you've got some major potential. Oh, and Minna, why didn't you fight back when you had Toshiro show you how he would overpower you?"

"You know about that? That was only minutes ago!" Toshiro said.

"Goddess self, you know."

"Isn't there some rule about that?"

"Nope. The gods in this universe can do whatever they want, though they usually show some restraint in serious matters. Anyway, Minna?"

She shrugged. "I was curious."

"Well, I want to see a proper match between you two later then." Kye turned back to Toshiro. "And I believe one of my redhead daughters wants to fight you on mortal terms. I was also told about your little scrap on the plane."

"I couldn't even follow her movements."

Kye nodded. "Mhm. Anyway, we should move on to the briefing room, unless you have any other questions."

"Yeah... I'm good for now," Toshiro said.

"Alright then." Kye gestured at everyone and headed toward the big building.

* * *

When they arrived in the briefing room, the few Karlslander witches that were present earlier were already there.

"Kye!" Edytha shouted.

"Edytha! How've you been?"

Edytha pouted at her. "If you'd come by more often, you might know better."

"Oh, come on, I've been busy!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know. How are the advancements on the Air Band and SFS things you guys had in the alternate future?"

"Both are done, but the Air Bands are still not capable of handling high magic witches and wizards where the SFS can."

"It only took a year for you to reimagine them."

"I also built the Shockwave Rifle again and improved it!"

"I still say you should let me try to shoot it."

"You're too small! That thing has a monstrous kick."

Toshiro heard that and had to chime in, "Monstrous kick, you say? What is this contraption you speak of?"

"25mm Shockwave Rifle. It fires special ammunition made specifically for it and is very dangerous to inexperienced marksmen."

"Sounds like my kind of gun."

"It's a sniper styled gun."

"We're talking a sniper rifle that's nearly twice the caliber of a .50 Cal? Yeah, that's my kind of toy."

"I'll give you a go with it then, but we'll need to find a proper firing range."

"I'm in."

"No fair," Edytha pouted again.

"I'll let you fire it once, _Paula_."

"Using that name... Alright, I give up."

"Sorry, Edytha, but until you master the Magic Aura, it's not a good idea. You'll hurt yourself."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll fire it eventually," Edytha mumbled as she returned to her seat.

Kye stepped up to the podium as the last few witches took their seats. "During this reunion, all members of the 501st have been asked to keep their schedules cleared for a full month following the reunion date. This is because of a special event that will take place... that I don't actually know much about yet. It's my Goddess self who's concocting this mess up, so bear with it."

"Mom, I can't spend a whole month away from Kamiko. She's still breastfeeding!" Rei said adamantly.

"It'll be alright. You'll still be able to take care of her during the month."

"I better be."

"I'm not sure what we're going to do, but it's supposedly going to be a pretty grand event. Kaylie even yanked this guy from another universe to participate. That's right, Toshiro here is not from our world. Go ahead and introduce yourself formally as you would in your world."

"Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss, Archduke of Pomerania and heir to the throne of Karlsland. In my world, I am the Kaiser's nephew."

"Impressive. You have as many titles as I did in 1945."

"What did you have?"

"Uh... well I'd introduce myself like this: Lieutenant General Kye Miyafuji, Supreme Commander of the Joint Strike Force and General of the Allied Forces."

"General of the Allied Forces?"

"I was the first and only five star general to overlook the entirety of the Allied Forces. I was given commanding power over every military in the world, and I still possess that rank."

"Even the Wehrmacht?"

"Even the Wehrmacht."

"What the hell did you do to earn that?"

"I had fought the Neuroi since 1934 and had led the Strike Witches to destroying two additional hives in quick succession after the Venezia operation. It was a decision made so I could properly lead the world to winning the war, not fun and games."

_ Maybe I can get some ideas from what they did, _Toshiro thought. "I see."

Kye nodded and turned back to the group of witches. "So there you have it. Our guest is from a parallel world similar to our own, and he will be participating in whatever the event is. Other than that, treat him with respect. He's gone through a lot of shit to get where he is now. If you wish to spar with him, that's up to him, but be aware - he's not a pushover. "

_ I feel better now at least. Maybe Kye isn't all that bad._

Before anyone could say anything else, the Goddess Kye appeared in front of the mortal Kye.

"Hi, me."

"Shit just got weird," Toshiro mumbled.

The Goddess Kye held up a finger, gesturing for everyone to wait a moment, as she opened a portal. "Come on, everyone in."

"Where are we going?" Kye asked her immortal self.

"The God Realm."

"I'm not leaving Kamiko!" Rei argued.

"I know, sweetie," the Goddess said. She snapped her fingers and Kamiko appeared in her arms. "She's coming, too."

"Absolutely not! She's a baby!"

The Goddess snapped her fingers again, causing Kamiko's body to glow, and in flash of light, the baby Kamiko was gone, replaced by a sixteen year old Kamiko clad in a green battle kimono.

"What?" The newly aged girl mumbled. "Hey, this isn't 1968! I'm not supposed to be sixteen."

_ "The fuck...?"_

_ "Smile and wave..."_

_ "Yuki, what the hell world..."_

_ "Just go with it."_

Rei sighed, jumped down from her seat, and embraced her once again teenage daughter.

"Hi, Mom."

Rei smiled at her daughter, but it quickly turned sour as she turned to the immortal incarnation of her mother. "I'm gonna get you for this when my mortal body dies."

"Sweetie, you know you can't beat me."

"No, but you're gonna let me!" Rei said with an intense glare.

"Okay, okay. I'll turn her back..."

"No!" Rei argued quickly. "I will not allow her to go as a baby."

"Then young adult it is."

Rei just sighed and led her teenage daughter through the portal. Everyone else, aside from Yoshika, Kye, the Goddess Kye, and Toshiro had already gone through.

"Before you three go, I wanted to talk to you quickly," the Goddess said. The three nodded. "The event is going to be a military operation. Mortal me will be the Supreme Commander of the operation, and Toshiro will be second in command. Yoshika, feel free to use your True Zen powers, but don't forget that you've never used them in real combat. Adapt as necessary."

"Right."

"Toshiro, I wanted to wait until you were stronger before bringing you to this world, but Kaylie insisted to grab you from that specific point in time. Once the operation officially starts, you will be given a temporary power up to bring you up to par. Amaterasu and I will discuss the nature of the power up. It will only last while you are in my world and will be disabled once you return to yours."

"Okay."

"We will wait to give you the power up for three days to give you time to spar with whoever you want. Kaylie wants to spar and there's the proper match with Minna my mortal self here proposed. After that you'll have four days to get used to the power up before the operation begins."

"Fair enough."

"Good. Now off you three go. Into the portal. It will automatically close behind the last of you," the Goddess said before vanishing.

"I look forward to a spar with you after the power up," Kye said. "If I'm right, she's going to bring you up to my level."

Toshiro smirked. "Bring it."

* * *

After Kye, Yoshika, and Toshiro emerged from the portal, they found the Goddess Kye standing on the other side. She didn't hold them up for long, but needed to give her mortal incarnation some information about the base.

Instead of telling her the information, the Goddess merely touched her mortal self's forehead and imparted the information mentally.

"Before I go, Toshiro, you should know that I moved your equipment again," the Goddess said. "You'll find it in the hangar."

"Are you going to put it back on the plane when I return to my world?"

"Your stuff is still on the plane. I just made a copy of it."

"Right, I'm remembering now that you mentioned the word "copy" earlier."

Before the Goddess disappeared, two people dropped out of the sky and landed next to them. Toshiro somewhat recognized the man, but didn't recognize the girl. Both had red hair and blue eyes like Kaylie, and both wore plain jeans and t-shirts. The man wore a blue t-shirt and the girl wore a white t-shirt.

"You look familiar," Toshiro said, eyeing the man.

"Hmm?" he mumbled. "Oh, you probably recognize me as somebody you've met. He works as a bartender in your world, in Los Angeles I believe."

"Yeah, Red."

"He's me... sort of. A version of me... In your world."

"So you already know about..."

"You being from another universe? Yeah, I'm no stranger to that stuff. The name is Doran Maya," he said as he extended his hand to Toshiro.

Toshiro shook his hand, but Doran wasn't satisfied.

"Come on, you can do better than that!"

"I might break your hand," Toshiro said plainly.

The girl spoke up, "You'd surprise all of us if you did. Doran and I aren't _normal mortals_."

Toshiro smirked, activated his Sacred Flame, and put on the pressure.

"Ha, that's more like it!" Doran shouted.

"Doran honey, what are you doing here?"

"Are you asking so that everyone else can hear the answer, or are you just piddling with me?"

"A little of both," the Goddess said lightly as she gave Doran a kiss on the cheek.

"Did I miss something?" Toshiro asked curiously.

"Kye and Doran are a thing," the redhead girl said. "Kaylie and Layla are their identical twin daughters, and Rei is their eldest daughter."

"Hmm." Toshiro suddenly got a dirty idea. "So..."

"Hey Doran, now's your chance. You have both the Goddess Kye and mortal Kye in one place. You could have a threesome with the same person."

The mortal Kye raised an eyebrow, the Goddess Kye paid it no attention, and Toshiro laughed before saying, "I was literally about to suggest that."

"I like you already." The girl extended her hand to Toshiro. "I'm Michelle Maya."

"Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas..."

Michelle cut him off. "I don't care about ranks, titles, and whatnot."

"Toshiro Edelweiss."

_ "Yuki, I just got an idea from that suggestion for Doran and the two Kyes."_

_ "Let me guess, you want to do it with two Yoshikas now?"_

"You're naughty," the Goddess Kye said after instantaneously moving from her spot by Doran to in front of Toshiro, "and you certainly have been busy conquering the girls in your world. What would you do if you were a girl to be conquered yourself?"

"What...?"

The Goddess snapped her fingers, and suddenly Toshiro was transformed into a well-endowed female version of himself. He was a bit shorter, closer to Adolfine's height than his own, and his chest was a bit larger, though not as large as Shirley's.

"The fuck?!" Toshiro exclaimed as he examined himself. "Holy shit, my voice! It's..."

"You are now one hundred percent female."

Toshiro was freaked out, but he found relief in his newfound chest. "Heh... Boobs... Ah, but wait a second..." Toshiro said and moved his hands down, and once they reached their destination he made a sour face. "Yeeaaaaah... My bird just flew out and left only a nest... But it feels nice..."

"And now..." The Goddess snapped her fingers again then pointed behind Toshiro.

He turned around and found a carbon copy of his male self. The clone had no expression on his face and merely stood there.

The Goddess snapped her fingers again and transported everyone to the insides of the barracks on base. She pointed to a room marked "Toshiro" and gestured for the clone to go in. She looked at Toshiro and gestured at him as well with a smirk.

"You're not serious."

She just continued to smirk.

"No way."

"Amaterasu approved the idea. To know thy enemy, one should know thyself."

Toshiro rolled his eyes. "I've heard that one before."

"I have another one for you. Don't dish it out if you can't take it." The Goddess grabbed his wrist and pushed him inside. "Have fun!"

"Gods damn it!" He said as he caught himself from stumbling in.

"Oh and if it hurts real good... Well, that means your clone is doing it right. And don't worry about getting knocked up by a clone of yourself. Your female body is sterile."

The Goddess closed the door. Toshiro turned around and found his male clone already in the process of stripping.

_ Oh boy..._

* * *

"Ouch... Ah shit... That stings..." Toshiro said to himself while exiting the room. "Guess this new body of mine wasn't_ broken in_... Oh but damn, what a roller-coaster... And the orgasm, what the fuck... Do women really feel their orgasm so deeply and intensely? That was nothing like I felt when I was a man... And praise the gods that he... It... Whatever didn't want anal..."

"Are you asking me or are you just mumbling to yourself?" Goddess Kye asked from out of nowhere.

"You probably know already anyway... And where is everyone?"

"You're not the center of the world, Toshiro. Everyone has their own agenda. And yes, I know, but for the sake of conversation - was is good?" She asked with a wry smile.

"You set that puppet of yours to eleven, huh? Fucking unfair... I never went so rough with the girls, unless they _really_ wanted it... And definitely not on the first time, damn you!"

"I know, but let's say I went to the extreme so you'll remember this little experience better. Shall I heal you?"

"I'll walk it off, if it's possible. Hey, I was pierced like a shish kebab, I can take a little sourness after being literally raped by myself, right?"

Suddenly Toshiro felt much better. He looked at Kye with a raised eyebrow.

"Know my good heart, Toshiro. So, do you want to be a man again?"

"You know what? I think I'll take my tits for a walk... Just having a fuck doesn't constitute for experiencing womanhood, right?"

"What, you want to bear a child now? You might have a little trouble with that, considering your female body is sterile."

"Oh shut the fuck up already!" Toshiro exploded. "Damn, I have to get used to this voice..."

"Heehee..."

_ Now that I'm a girl, I wonder how it feels to make out with another one..._

Toshiro curiously looked at Kye.

"Forget it. I can hear your thoughts! I'm not exchanging saliva with you."

"Awwww... But I guess Doran, Red, or whatevershisname right now wouldn't exactly approve of me kissing you... So, what fun can I have around here?"

"Extend your hand."

Toshiro raised his hand forward and a sheet of paper appeared on it. He looked at it and saw a monochromatic map, but it seemed as if it was moving.

"What kind of fancy product of magic stationery is this?"

"A magic map, simple. Here you see the complex surrounding you. See that little green arrow in the corner of the barracks?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Turn around while looking at it."

Toshiro looked at the green arrow, and he saw that it was turning in sync with him.

"Woah, shit! Nice!"

"Right? Now, touch the arrow in the box in the upper-right corner."

Toshiro touched it, and a list unfolded.

"Hmmm... Wuzzat?"

"You can set filters in this menu. Right now, only your arrow is set. Touch the Point of Interest filter."

Toshiro touched said entry, and suddenly the houses in the nearby town gained small pictures over them."

"Hoho... So these pictograms represent places I can do stuff in?"

"Yup."

"I'll go to the pizzeria then, I haven't ate a pizza since Romagna..."

"Good choice, Toshiro. I can tell you one thing, the pizzas here are... _Divine_... And be sure to check out a few other places!"

"Hahahaha! Okay, I'll go have a snack. I guess you'll contact me when I'll be needed?"

"Nope. Doran and I are taking our daughters, Kaylie and Layla, out to eat at a restaurant in the Light Kingdom."

"The where?"

"My birthplace."

"Isn't Rei your daughter, too? And what about... Uh... Kamiko wasn't it?"

"They are both mortal right now and they have duties here. If you need something, go find my mortal incarnation. When you get ready to be a man again, just call out for me in your mind. I'll hear you."

"I'm guessing you hear a lot of people?"

"The combined population of my universe, all individual realms included, is over a trillion, and that's just my main universe. I have several other universes under my sovereignty as well, and I hear the thoughts of every person in them."

"How can you pick one person out from that many?"

"Your IQ is 175. As a god, if I were to put a number to my IQ... Well you'd have to invent a number high enough, though most just prefer to say infinity."

"You gods and your shit."

"Anyway, when you are needed, you'll be found by the appropriate party. Have fun with your exploration."

"I hope I'll enjoy it with these funbags on my chest..."

Suddenly, a bra appeared in Kye's hands.

"Oh riiight... I thought I was missing something... But... Um... As much as I can remove one with two fingers, I've never exactly helped with putting one on, especially since Yoshika doesn't need one... Sadly..." He sighed deeply.

"Get that shirt off and I'll put it on for you."

"Can't you just _poof_ it on me?"

"And spoil the fun? No way!"

Toshiro pulled off his shirt, but before he shared his bust with Kye, he grabbed his breasts firmly and weighed them in his hands.

"Yeah... At least you were nice and gave me these... And a body roughly like Adi's, heheh..."

"I didn't want to traumatize you too much. I'm not some demon. Okay, buster, hands up."

Toshiro put his hands up and Kye put the bra through them and slid it down to his chest.

"Now, hands down..."

Toshiro lowered his hands, and Kye pulled the bra up from the bottom.

"Hhnnn..." Toshiro moaned.

"I could have cut down on the sensitivity of your breasts..." She mumbled. "But you'll get used to it in a while."

She fastened the fastener and adjusted the straps for him.

"There you go, Toshiria."

"Sounds weird... But whatever, I'll go around as Toshiria right now. Thanks for the boob holder, I'm off."

"Just don't pick any fights. You're not too much weaker, but you'll need some practice in a female body before kicking it into high gear."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"Oh, and one more thing." The Goddess snapped her fingers. "You'll find female clothing in your room, and your male clone is now gone. Your female clothing includes a female version of your uniform, swimwear, and casual stuff. Enjoy!"

"Oh, thanks."

She nodded and vanished, leaving the female Toshiro to go about his way.


	4. Chapter 4: Toshiro Likes Pizza

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 4: Toshiro Likes Pizza**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

Toshiro summoned his sword and grabbed the handle on the door to his room. He opened it fiercely and jumped inside, looking around.

"Nothing... Good..."

He dispelled his sword and looked around. The room looked like a good motel room, but nothing more. He now saw a few paper bags on the bed on which he lost his womanly virginity.

"It's a bit dim here... Hmmm..." he said while he looked around. "Ah, this must control the lights..." He found a panel on the wall near the door.

He turned a knob a bit to the right and the lighting got brighter.

"Not bad stuff..." he murmured and turned around. "Oh, a mirror, let's see how I look in whole..."

Toshiro approached the mirror and for the first time he saw his new face.

"Oh my gods... I look so sexy! Now let's get a full view of me... Heehee... Haha, my giggling is so girlish."

Toshiro undid the buttons on his shirt and dropped it on the floor.

"Ah... My new tits... A bit bigger than Adi's actually, halfway between her and Shirley... Kye sure knows what I like... And those abs, huhum..." he said as he stroked his toned stomach. "Time to see more."

He undid the button of his pants and they simply slopped down on the floor, along with his undies. He just had to whistle in admiration.

"Woooow... If I put on a bikini and walked down the street, every man would need to visit the chiropractor, hahaha! These curves and..." Toshiro grabbed his bottom firmly and squeezed. "Aah! Dat ass! Hmm... This body feels so sensitive... So fragile... And so fucking sexy!"

_ "Even I got a boner."_

_ "Yuki has jokes."_

_ "And you can't get a boner."_

_ "Bahahahahahahaha! Technically neither can you."_

"Let's see what threads Kye left for me. I obviously can't walk around in my usual uniform, since it hangs on me like a potato sack." Toshiro said to himself and approached the paper bags.

From one of them he pulled out a black bikini, with the upper piece consisting of black triangles and a low hanging black bottom.

"Hoooo... Foxy bikini... I have to try it on!"

Toshiro unhooked his bra and pulled on his new bikini.

"Woooooooah! If it was possible, I would fuck myself in a different way than what I just experienced... But now for something more... Military."

He dropped out of his bikini and pulled on his bra, albeit with a few difficulties.

"Damn, these knockers sure are difficult to contain... Now, bag number two... Didn't she say I'd find a female variant of my own uniform? This is..."

He pulled out a uniform identical to the formal one that Adolfine wore in his world, albeit modified a bit to accommodate his physique. After he put it on, he returned before the mirror.

"Heehee... A True Soldier of Karlsland! But..." He looked at his lower regions. "Damn, I can't go out with my cooch in the wild..."

He reached into the last bag and pulled out black panties with a red trimming.

"Fancy..." he said and pulled them on. "Wait... That's it?! I know that our worlds have such standards for girls, but sheesh, I'm used to parading around in shorts at least... Aaaah... But wait, I think there was something!"

Toshiro reached into one of the bags, and pulled out a simple black skirt, which would cover about three quarters of his thighs.

"A godsend!"

Toshiro put on the skirt and turned to his shoes, only to find one more problem holding him back.

"Ah shit... Me boots are like fucking canoes now!"

He looked around the room but he saw nothing resembling a shoe box. Thinking of only one place to find a shoe box, he dropped to the floor and took a quick look under the bed.

"Ah ha!"

He found three boxes and took the smallest one. He found only a pair of flip flops inside.

"Heehee... These will do for a beach, but not now..."

The second box contained black, high heel shoes, something a woman would kill for.

_ "Yuki, do you think this will work?"_

_ "If you don't try, you won't know..."_

Toshiro equipped his feet with the shoes and tried to stand up. He swayed a bit, but managed to stand straight.

"Now... A little step forward..."

He took a shy step forward, but his body has yet to have any training in moving in such refined footwear, so he fell flat on his face.

_ "Mwahahahahahahaha!"_

_ "Yuki..."_

"For fucks sake! Fucking retarded mother fucking devilish clogs!" Toshiro yelled angrily and slammed the shoes against the wall with such force that the heels stuck in the wall. "Well, fuck, I'm rich enough to pay for that..."

Toshiro crawled toward the last box, and his eyes almost glistened after he saw his favorite pair of shoes, only a few sizes smaller.

"Now, this is footwear!" he cheered and giggled after putting them on. "Heehee... Toshiria ready for duty! Time to eat that pizza!"

* * *

Toshiro glanced at his handy magic map as he made his way through the streets. "The Pizza Parlor should be right around this corner... And oh, there's an Ice cream Parlor next door to it!"

"Now... Let's look... According to this magical thingamabob, the pizza parlor should be this building here..." He entered the building and saw a lot of people dressed in all kinds of clothes, eating, drinking, and chatting.

"Welcome to the pizza parlor!" a waitress suddenly cheered, making Toshiro twitch. "Pardon for my sudden behavior, dear patron."

"Nah, I just spaced out... Do you have any seats free? This place looks chock full..."

"It's lunchtime and this is the only pizza parlor in town, after all," she said before she giggled. "There is a table in the back corner, if you wish, dear patron."

"I'll bite."

"Please follow me."

The waitress led him towards the single table in the corner of the building. While he was walking along, he saw that there was a door-less doorway in the middle of the wall, and something akin to an ice cream shop in the other room.

"Pardon, is that the ice cream shop next door?" Toshiro asked.

"Why yes, of course! The shops are connected, because the Queen likes to have ice cream after her pizza. I deeply recommend visiting our neighbors!"

"If I have any space in my tummy after eating pizza, sure, why not..."

Toshiro sat behind his table, and he was presented with the menu. He was surprised to find that it was in Fusogo and somewhat sour when he found that it was magic.

_ Even the fucking menu has to be magic... Sigh..._

Toshiro looked through all the positions and said, "A medium margarita please."

"Of course, ma'am. Any beverages?"

"What do you recommend?"

"We have a fresh batch of lager today straight from the brewery."

"Then throw me a pint, and I'll be good."

"Of course, ma'am. Your order will be done in a few minutes."

"Take your time, please. I'm not starving, heehee..."

"Oh you don't look like your starving..." the waitress mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about something... I'll be returning shortly with your beer."

Toshiro leaned back and looked around the clientele once again. While he was scouting through the people, he saw that one of them, a black haired shy-looking girl, was eying him profusely. Once their eyes met, she immediately turned away and started eating a thick slice of pizza.

_ I'm not a damn man anymore, what the hell?_

As if by some weird twist of fate, the shy girl's white haired companion turned around and looked at Toshiro. He furled his eyebrows in disdain, but much to his misery, the shy girl looked back over as well.

_ For fucks sake!_

Toshiro slowly stood up and started approaching the table of the two.

_ And they are even eying me now!_

He sat at their table and asked, "Now, I don't know who you two are, but why are you looking at me as if I'm a bearded woman in a circus?"

"My apologies, Archduke von Edelweiss, but my companion couldn't contain herself and she read your mind."

"I apologize..." the first offender mumbled.

"Great... Fucking great... Now I get to know that everyone here can read my damn mind... At least I don't have to introduce myself... Because you know _everything_ about me..." Toshiro mumbled with a grumpy face.

"Once again, I apologize, Archduke..."

"Oh can the Archduke stuff... I'm basically the archduke of a barren land, devoid of life, and covered in miasma... But you can both tell me your names, since I can't do the same trick as you in reverse."

"I am Liliana Venturi, and my shy companion is Aliana, my younger sister by a year. But please call her "Shadow". It's her nickname-slash-callsign."

"Good morning," the shy girl said, almost too quietly to hear.

"Well hi..." Toshiro said. "So now what? We eat pizza together?"

"I can provide some explanations first, if you'd like."

"Please do... I feel like a 70 year old man, blind since the day he was born, and suddenly asked to pick out Sand Gray from a color pallet."

"We are both Immortals, so we can read the minds of both Mortals and other Immortals with ease. But, there is a trick to blocking out, and with enough training, you could probably block out our probing attempts, and although we could overpower your block, Immortals usually won't bother out of respect for privacy since the person went through the trouble to learn how to block it. And of course, there are limitations. We can't read the minds of Gods, but the Gods can read each other's minds, providing they don't block each other out, and they can read the minds of both Immortals and Mortals regardless of protection. And then there is Kye."

"Let me guess... She's just "Meh, so this is your mind... Boring...", right?"

"She is the Goddess of the Seven Stars, after all. She's the most powerful entity in our universe by a large margin. Nobody can block her out and she can even read the Gods of your world like open books."

"Ehh... Thanks for the explanation. First thing I'll request is training in that mind probe blocking, definitely. And I admire you for not freaking out that I'm gender bent."

"Oh, we are used to Kye's antics. Might I add that you're more beautiful as a man?"

"Um... Thanks..." Toshiro said with his cheeks going red.

"But you're cuter now..." Aliana mumbled.

"She speaks!" Toshiro gasped.

Liliana giggled. "Shadow is just the quiet type..."

"Shadow? Yeah... I somehow imagine her lurking in the shadows. Now where's that beer..."

"Did you call, ma'am?" the waitress asked from behind him, almost giving him a heart attack. "Oops! Sorry again!"

"You should really stop surprising people like that... Oh, that beer looks... beery."

"Only the best in this place. The pizza will be ready in a few minutes."

"Thanks."

The waitress glanced over to Liliana's glass, then to Shadow's glass. "Oh, I apologize Supreme Commander Venturi, I forgot to bring you a refill."

"That's alright, Miss. Just be sure to bring a refill as soon as you get a chance."

"Yes, ma'am." The waitress hurried off.

Toshiro turned back to the Venturi sisters. "So, the Queen you mentioned. What's her name?"

"Queen Hatsumi Akari.

"Akari? Is Kye related?"

"Yes. The Queen is Kye's great grandmother, as well as ours. In light of that, Kye and I are second cousins.

"Greaaaaat... Everyone's Kye's relative or friend... I'll have to watch out when I open the drawer in my room, or Kye will jump out of it."

Liliana giggled slightly, and even Aliana's face was donned with a small smile.

"She can be quite the troublemaker," Liliana said.

"Oh, uh... I put a hole in the wall back in my room. Who do I pay to get it fixed?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll send somebody to fix it."

"So do I pay them when they finish? Or what?"

She giggled. "You're silly."

"I guess I'll find out..."

The waitress returned with the refills. "Here you are." She poured the cola into both Liliana's and Shadow's glasses and went back to the kitchen.

"So I hear you use Sacred Flame," Liliana mused.

"Yeah."

"I'm somewhat of a... _holy fire _type myself." She held her hand out over the table and a small ball of golden fire flared to life in her palm. "The proper term is "Holy Flames", but it gets called by a few synonyms as well. Does your Sacred Flame work anything like this?"

"Not really, but I did fart once while it was active and blew out a stream of fire."

"I see." Liliana was having trouble holding back her laughter, but she managed.

"It's more like a booster. I activate it and I get coated in flames. My super strength and time dilution magics get enhanced."

"That's similar to a one function of the Energy Projection auras."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, the Energy Projection auras flat out increase _your everything_, but at a cost of increased magic consumption. It ups your strength, magic output, and strengthens your inherent magic."

"Basically the same."

"Of course, Energy Projection auras do more than just that, but I imagine that since your Sacred Flame doesn't do all the various stuff Energy Projection auras do... It's probably more effective at what it_ does_ do."

"My strength kind of goes through the roof."

"Hmm... You know what? I would classify your Sacred Flame as a Magic Aura. It does the same thing that all the other Magic Auras do. Gertrude Barkhorn's Magic Aura is the Strength Aura. Her inherent Super Strength gets increased substantially, more so than any Energy Projection aura could do."

"So it's a Magic Aura? Where do I learn how to fly without a striker?"

Liliana shrugged. "You'd have to go see Princess Yami."

"Whozzat?"

"Kye's sister."

"Old McKye had a relative..."

Both Liliana and Shadow chuckled lightly.

"I'm back with your pizza, dear patron," the waitress said, startling Toshiro again.

"Gods damn it..." He sighed.

_ "Yuki..."_

_ "Okay, okay, I'll stop... not sensing stuff."_

The waitress's face turned beat red. "Oh, I'm sorry! I really am not trying to startle you!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine. Just set my pizza down here."

The table was large enough to fit a second pizza, so Toshiro decided not to go back to his table.

"Miss, could I get a pint of lager, too?" Liliana asked.

Before the waitress could respond, Shadow cut her off with a cold stare at Liliana and an equally cold voice. "Lily..."

"Okay, okay..." Lily held her arms in front of her as if protecting herself form her younger sister. "I'll just stick with my cola."

Shadow's intense expression lightened back up and she dug into another piece of pizza.

Toshiro whistled. "One word and boom."

"Yeah... Alcohol does things to me," Liliana said.

"Oh, do you get a little crazy when you're drunk?"

"Well..."

"We can't get drunk," Shadow explained, "but that doesn't stop my sister from acting like it. She acts like a complete moron when she gets alcohol."

"Hey, I can't have fun if I don't!"

"What...? Oh, whatever." Toshiro just sighed and set to work on his pizza.

* * *

A short while later, he leaned back in his chair with an empty pizza pan in front of him. "That was the best pizza I've ever had... And I've had some good pizza in Romagna."

"The people that run this shop are the same people that run the pizza parlor in the Light Kingdom capitol," Liliana said. "Their family has been making pizza since before I was born, and I'm ten thousand years old."

"But pizza hasn't been around that long."

"In your world, no, and not on Earth in this world either. In this world, a lot of famous cuisines originate from the Light Kingdom. It's not uncommon for Light Kingdom citizens to immigrate to Earth. They are happy with our culture, but they want to experience something new, and they take recipes with them that get passed down through the generations."

"Neat."

"So can you still eat? Shadow and I usually go next door for some ice cream after we eat pizza. I'm glad Kye set this place up just like it is back home..."

"Like it is back home?"

"Yeah, she basically just poofed this entire planet into existence and made this little town that's attached to the base similar to a section of the Light Kingdom capitol."

"I'm guessing this planet was made specifically for the..._ Event_ coming in a week?"

"Yeah."

"Do you know what it's gonna be?"

"I don't. Kye hasn't told anyone. I've scouted out the planet a few times, but she keeps changing it every time I come back to town. Apparently I'm participating in the event as a mortal."

"Hmm... Well no need to worry about that I guess... Can't help it. So ice cream?"

"Let's go." Liliana and Shadow stood up and made their way toward the door-less doorway between the pizza and ice cream parlors.

"I guess I'll pay?"

"You're silly," Liliana said as she and Shadow walked through into the ice cream parlor.

Toshiro looked for the waitress. He found her heading toward the kitchen and stopped her. "Excuse me, where do I pay?"

"Pay?" She looked at him with genuine curiosity.

"Yeah. You know... Money to compensate your efforts."

"Oh, you must not be from the Light Kingdom, dear patron."

"I'm obviously missing something."

"I apologize, but can you ask Supreme Commander Venturi about it? I have orders to fill."

"Alright... I guess..." He left the waitress to go about her way and went on to the ice cream parlor where he found a nearly empty room. It was occupied by Liliana, Shadow, and two more white haired girls. "Hey, Liliana, the waitress told me to ask you about paying and not being from the Light Kingdom."

"Oh, you must be Toshiro," one of the other white haired girls said. "Looks like Kye played her prank a bit sooner than expected."

"Meh, I like the tits."

Suddenly, he felt hands grabbing his breasts from behind. "Did Francesca just come in?"

"Nope!" Liliana sang. "She's still a grabber in training compared to me."

"I would have never taken you for a boob devil."

"She gets it from me, of course. Well, in this world she does. Francesca Lucchini is my great-great-great... ten-thousand-years-worth-of-greats great granddaughter."

"The ancestors called, they want their greats back."

"Heehee," Liliana giggled. "Jeez, Kye did you justice. Your boobs aren't gigantic, but they are some hardcore prize winners. I'm kind of jealous." Liliana let go of Toshiro's breasts and jumped back onto her bar stool.

"So back to my earlier question about money and the Light Kingdom."

"I got you, but first I'd like to introduce myself. I'm Yami Akari." She extended her hand to Toshiro, who shook it.

"Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss... Or I guess right now its Toshiria Luca von Edelweiss."

"Toshiria?" Yami made no effort to hide her discontent.

"Yeah, Kye coined it."

"Bad. Toshiko is much better."

"Meh, I don't care what I'm called, really, as long as it's time for dinner," he said, earning a few laughs from the girls.

"Indeed, but you really should use Toshiko while you're a girl. It's a much more proper name and fits you better."

"I take it you know about me?"

"Well, most of the Immortals know that you are from another world, but some of us know a bit more. For example, I know the reason behind your gender-bender prank, Sir Fucksalot."

"Sir Fucksalot. HA!"

"I also know that your full name and stuff is Generalmajor Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss, Archduke of Pommern, and heir to the throne of Karlsland as the only living male relative to Kaiser Friedrich Josef Wilhelm Edward Roland von Hohenzollern, being his nephew that was recently de-bastardified."

"De-bastardified?"

"Fuck proper words."

"What about you? If you are Kye's sister, then you are the great granddaughter of a Queen."

"Oh, yeah. My proper titles are Princess Yami Akari and Goddess of Energy and Mortal Magic."

"You're a god?"

"Yeah."

"Here a god... There a god..."

"Old McDonald had a god?" Yami mused.

"Will you people stop reading my mind!? That's getting old faster than moldy loaf of bread in a subtropical environment!"

"So it seems," Yami said. "Anyway, you've met Lily and Shadow already." Yami gestured at the fourth girl. "This is my daughter, Yuko Akari. She's an Immortal like Lily and Shadow."

"Here an Immortal, there an Immortal... Old McDonald is gonna sue me one of these days."

"You'll get used to it eventually." Yami pointed behind the bar. "You should probably tell him what you want."

"Hmm?" Toshiro saw a man behind the bar waiting patiently. "Oh, uh..." Toshiro looked at the large menu hanging along the top of the wall behind the bar. "Oh look, a menu that's not magic. I'll have a bowl of pistachio with chocolate."

"Got it. Miss Liliana? Miss Shadow?"

"The usual." Both rang at the same time.

"Coming right up."

Toshiro, Liliana, and Shadow waited in silence with only the sounds of milkshake slurping coming from Yami and Yuko.

As Yami finished her milkshake, a question popped into Toshiro's mind.

"No," Yami said. "Kye didn't tell me anything about the event. Even Lord Zalen and Lady Xera don't know."

"I didn't even get to ask the question. Come on! This mind reading is bullshit!"

"I'm a god. I can hear your thoughts as if you were speaking out loud. It's passive for me, whereas everyone else has to think about it. I'm gonna hear your thoughts whether either of us likes it or not until you get that mind block training. That'll prevent me from hearing your thoughts passively anyway."

"Well I want to do that now."

"You'll have to wait until tomorrow."

Toshiro sighed. "Well what can we do today? And who are Lord Zalen and Lady Xera?"

"I'll answer about Zalen and Xera first. Lady Xera is my mother and Queen of the Gods. She does _not_ have a specific divinity like I do and simply rules over all of the divinities, though she mostly just lets the rest of us handle the_ day to day_ stuff. Lord Zalen is the King of the Gods, and although he is technically retired, he still has authority over Xera and the rest of us."

"But Kye is above them?"

"She is different. She's not a normal god."

"Goddess of the Seven Stars."

"Let me put it into perspective. Kye's daughter, Rei, is the Goddess of Light now and our brother, Zen, is the God of Darkness."

"God of Darkness is an awesome sounding title," Toshiro said as the bartender passed out the ice cream treats to him, Liliana, and Shadow.

Liliana set fire to her bowl to melt her ice cream as Yami continued explaining. "Right? Anyway, Lord Zanith, my mother's brother, is the God of Arcane Magic, and don't confuse that with my own divinity of _mortal magic_. They are different. I can explain the difference later if you want. Lady Zana, my mother's sister, is the Goddess of War, which that title encompasses everything involving war - combat, martial arts, weapons, strategy, and so on. Kaylie is the Goddess of Time and Space, and Layla is the Goddess of Creation and Destruction. The lot of us are roughly even in terms of power, except for Zalen, Xera, Zanith, and Zana. Xera, Zanith, and Zana are more powerful than us, and Zalen is even higher than them. Now, Kye, being the only god with the divinity for Zen Energy and True Zen Energy, is on a completely separate level. Even if all the other gods in our universe combined their strength, we couldn't stand up to her... Not even close."

"So she rules with an iron sword?"

"Not exactly. You should ask her about it yourself. If the rest of the gods know about it, she'll probably tell you, so long as it has to do with our universe, but make sure to ask the Goddess Kye, not the mortal Kye. The mortal Kye chose not to have access to her godly knowledge, only her immortal and mortal knowledge."

"Say what?"

"Kye has three separate knowledge bases. She has her mortal knowledge as Kye Miyafuji, she has her immortal knowledge as Crown Princess Kye Akari of the Light Kingdom, and she has her godly knowledge."

"I think I've learned more today that I have in the past month."

"Heh."

"So if I want to know more about stuff, ask the Goddess Kye."

"Right. And we should probably get going. There's not any magic training today, but we are playing with some toys."

"I like toys," Toshiro said as he finished the last bit of his ice cream. He got up and followed Yami and the others to the door, but before they left, Yami stopped them.

"I almost forgot. We need to de-immortalize ourselves."

"Well I'm set," Toshiro said.

"I have to do it for Lily, Shadow, and Yuko. It takes a month for Immortals to do it on their own, but I can do it instantly since I'm a god."

An intense bright blue aura of energy flared from Yami's body, and soon passed to the rest of the girls. As it faded, Toshiro could sense their magic energy.

"Well then."

"Let's go!" Yami ran outside, followed by everyone else, and led them toward the base, on foot.

For once, Toshiro actually was able to run at his own pace and not leave everyone behind.

_Well this is nice._


	5. Chapter 5: Toys

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 5: Toys**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

Just as Toshiro, Yami, and the others finished their short sprint from the middle of town and arrived back to the base, they heard a thundering boom from the north side of the base.

"What the hell?" Toshiro shouted as he continued to follow Yami.

"That was probably Kye firing the new and improved Shockwave Rifle," Yami said.

They heard another thundering boom a few seconds later.

"Gods _damn_ that's loud!"

"Heh."

The group ran north alongside the east wall of the base and soon rounded the corner. They found a wide open field extending north as far as the eye could see.

"Well, it's a nice firing range, but where's the target?" Toshiro asked as he and the others joined the rest of the witches. The mortal Kye was laying down, gazing through the scope on the Shockwave Rifle. He noticed a ditch was carved into the ground in front of the rifle. It extended several hundred meters before it shallowed out to ground level.

"It's about twenty five kilometers out," Mio said.

"And you hit it?"

"Two for two," Kye said. She rolled over on her back and looked up at Toshiro. "Oh, you're still a girl? No wonder I didn't recognize the voice."

Toshiro shrugged. "I figured I could walk around like this for a bit. It's not so bad."

Mio held her hand out to Kye and helped her up. Kye gestured first at Toshiro then at the rifle. "Take a shot. It's pretty easy laying down. Just make sure you have your Super Strength magic ready."

"Okay, then." Toshiro flopped down next to the rifle, but found that he couldn't lay flat. "My boobs are too big."

"It's a common problem for a female. Still getting used to the body, I see," Kye teased. "You'll have to adjust a little."

Toshiro squirmed around and propped himself up slightly so that he could work with the rifle. He gasped as soon as he looked through the scope. "What the fuck is this? Mio, you said that target is twenty five kilometers out?"

"That's right."

"I can see it as if it's ten meters out. Man, this ain't fair. Your world gets all the good shit."

"Heh, well we didn't have all the _good shit_ until several years after the Second Neuroi War," Kye said. "And that gun is only a few days old."

"Still," Toshiro pouted. He looked back through the scope, activated his magic, took aim, and braced himself. He pulled the trigger, heard a thundering boom, and felt a strong kick from the gun.

He continued to look through the scope and saw an unbelievable sight. He saw a several meter wide trail of energy following the bullet. He instinctively activated his time dilution and watched as the bullet hit the target and continued past the target. The target itself crumpled up into a super-compressed, long, thin piece of garbage that somewhat resembled a straw as the trail of energy engulfed it.

"I want one," he said as he deactivated his time dilution. "What did it do to that target? And how fast did that bullet travel?"

"The bullet traveled at about five kilometers per second, and the energy trail that followed the bullet generates an intense gravity zone," Kye explained. "It crushes anything caught in its path. It's something akin to compressing garbage, but on a higher scale. That's how that ditch in front of us got there."

"I like, I want."

"There's two more in the hangar. You can use one whenever you like, providing they aren't already in use."

"Where's that?"

"Right behind us."

Toshiro looked and saw a building jutting out the side of the base. "Ah ha."

Kye cracked her knuckles and made a fist. "So. It's time for the main event. Who here remembers the Striker Flight Suit?"

Toshiro glanced around and saw several witches with grins on their faces.

"Along with the Air Band, I have recreated the Striker Flight Suit, and enhanced it."

"Finally! I can only imagine how fast I'll fly once I get my hands on one," Shirley said with a fist pump.

"Some of you may not know or remember, but during that very last battle, when you conspired behind my back to send me to Fuso, Ichiro presented me with the Striker Flight Suit Mark 2 Prototype," Kye said. "After recreating the first model, I worked on the second model and managed to perfect the design. The Striker Flight Suit Mark 2 has all the same capabilities of the original SFS. It's made out of Sky Silk, it has the same built in Defensive Magic Aura that will compliment your own inherent magic and act as an advanced defensive barrier, it focuses your magic to increase your physical abilities, it has the advanced combat and communications systems, and it has the Magic Platforms."

"You said Mark 2?" Minna asked.

"Yes, it has a few upgrades," Kye said. "As with anything being upgraded, everything about it is more effective. Strength, speed, and so on will have a greater augmentation. The Defensive Magic Aura will work synergistically with your inherent Magic Aura. The combat and coms systems have been modified. The Magic Platforms have not been changed. The tights worn underneath have been done away with, and the suit itself is more like clothing than a suit now. It will conform to your personal tastes as far as how it fits. If you prefer loose clothing, the suit will be loose fitting. If you prefer a snug fit, the suit will adjust. And of course, the suits colors, both primary and secondary, will also adjust to your preference."

_ "Yuki, are you making notes of all this?"_

_ "Yes."_

"And perhaps the biggest change is the requirement to use the suit. Previously, a witch or wizard had to be rather powerful, not that any of us aren't, but now that requirement has been lowered. I made sure that every member of the various Joint Fighter Wings will be capable of using them."

"What about us?" A familiar voice to most of the present company called. "Can we use them now?"

Yoshika was the first to respond to the voice. "Yusu!" She quickly ran over to the girl and hugged her. Behind Yusu stood the many more witches and wizards.

"Who are they?" Toshiro whispered to Kye.

"Those are members of the third generation of the Joint Fighter Wings," Kye told him. "They are the 511th Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the Vast Witches, and the 516th Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the Dark Witches."

"Dark Witches?"

"In an alternate timeline where the 501st was sent to the future by Queen Xera, we met and fought alongside them in the Third Neuroi War. Originally, that was the correct timeline, but due to how things ended, we made the timeline split on April 5th, 1952 when Yoshika healed the Neuroi of their curse, reverting them to their human forms. The spell she cast to do that had a few side effects we didn't anticipate. Kaylie and Layla were imprisoned in mortal bodies at the time and could very well be erased from existence if they were to die. Yoshika's spell released them, allowing them to return to their godly status. Kaylie quickly transported all of us back in time before the spell completed. We were transported to the year 2012, but Kaylie took us back to 1952 and Yoshika's spell healed the Neuroi there. That split the timeline in two, the one that we are in now, and the other one where the Third Neuroi War happened."

"Sounds like a paradox."

"Kaylie made sure to avoid a paradox. Everything that we did in 1952 was not erased. Normally, two timelines cannot exist simultaneously, but Kaylie is the Goddess of Time and Space. She solidified both timelines and allowed them to coexist. She couldn't bear to let the friends we made in the other timeline disappear. It's been a year since that happened."

"I don't know what to say to that."

"Kaylie and Layla are goofballs that like to prank each other, but they are very protective over their loved ones. Kaylie has to work overtime to make sure both timelines stay stable. She doesn't get to go out much anymore because of that, but she's fine with it since she can visit her friends in the other timeline whenever she wants. Layla helps her out a lot just so that Kaylie can get a little extra free time."

"I respect that. It sounds like those two are about as close as you can get."

"Although they prank each other a lot, they are inseparable. I'm proud of them."

Toshiro took a quick look at the various witches and wizards and noticed one large man, bigger than his own male self. "Whoa... That guy is a giant."

"That is Trudy's great grandson, Lionhardt Barkhorn. He goes by Lion."

"I'm normally five centimeters shy of two meters, but he towers over even that!"

"I think he's two hundred and fifteen centimeters tall. He's over three hundred pounds and all muscle."

"I bet he can throw a mean punch."

"Oh, he can. I don't know how hard, but he can throw a pretty mean one. The lot of them have learned their Magic Auras in the past year as well, so he can use the same Strength Aura that Trudy can."

"Now I'm curious."

"You'll see," Kye said. She clapped her hands loudly, earning the attention of the large group in front of her. "Yes, all of you can use the Striker Flight Suit Mark 2, though you lot in the 511th and 516th are strong enough now to use the original SFS."

"I'm sensing you have something else in store," Mio said.

"Indeed. Going beyond the Mark 2, I have created the Striker Flight Suit Mark 3 Prototype. It has not yet had its _maiden voyage_ so I'm going to give it its first test now." Kye looked around for a moment, searching for a specific which. Her eyes stopped at Shirley. "There you are. I want to copy your magic."

"Sure." Shirley held her arm out and Kye walked over, activated her Energy Projection aura, and copied Shirley's speed magic.

Kye then ran to the hangar and reemerged a few minutes later with the SFS Mark 3 Prototype. Her new SFS took the same colors as her original SFS and Battle Kimono - dark purple and black.

She held her hand up, and several holographic panels appeared in front of her. The various panels displayed information about her vitals and magic power, as well as information about the surroundings, one showing a radar map of the area, another showing weather conditions, and another showing a threat meter, which had no threats displayed.

She waved her hand, causing those panels to move to the left and disappear, and causing three more panels to take their place. These new panels were empty, but they were titled "Enemy Class", "Enemy Type", and "Enemy Forces".

_What the flying Jiminy Cricket fuck..._

"Alright, time for the test flight," Kye said.

"Hold on, I'm going to put mine on, too, so I can track your flight," Yami said. She quickly ran to the hangar, changed, and returned. "Ready."

"Okay. I'm doing a speed test. I was able to go beyond Mach 5 in the original SFS and I reached Mach 12.5 in the SFS Mark 2 Prototype. We are quite a bit stronger now and our toys are improved, so I want to see what we can do now."

"Roger that." Yami held her hand out and pulled up a single holographic panel that showed readings from Kye's SFS. It showed Kye's name, SFS model, speed, and altitude. "All clear."

Kye took a deep breath and flared her Zen Aura to life. She stood there for a few seconds as she allowed her full power flow, earning "oohs" and "aahs" from most of the present company. After a moment, she bent down and jumped off the ground so hard that she broke the sound barrier in under ten meters and left a small crater where her feet had been. She flew straight up until she reached an altitude of about ten thousand meters then leveled off and flew into the distance.

The speed reading on Yami's screen steadily increased, starting at about fifteen hundred kilometers per hour and climbing to about twenty five hundred before evening out.

"Alright, Kye. Warm up time. Go!"

_Mach 2 isn't a warm up? Le what?_

"Roger," Kye said shortly before the speed meter jumped up substantially, reaching twelve thousand five hundred after another twenty seconds and maintaining that speed.

"Whew, that's the warm up?" Even Yami was a bit surprised. "I didn't expect you to break Mach 10 that fast."

"I feel like I can go a lot faster. I'm barely scraping ten percent."

"Turn it up a notch. Go up to at least half in another twenty second burst and see if you can maintain that speed afterward."

"Incoming," Kye said.

The number on the meter started increasing again, this time topping out at twenty five thousand.

"Whoa!"

"Kye, you are flying at just over Mach 20! That's a new record!"

"I know I improved the SFS, but holy... And I'm only giving it half my power."

"Do you think you can manage a higher speed?"

"Oh, yeah. I haven't even used Shirley's Speed Magic yet. I'm about to take it up to max _and_ use her Speed Magic."

_What the hell...?_

"Going max in five... Four... Three... Two... One... Go!" Kye counted down. As soon as she said "Go!" the meter soared well into the thirty thousand range in under a second and kept climbing into the forties and fifties. It didn't stop until it reached sixty two thousand kilometers per hour.

"Whoa! Kye! Mach 50! You're flying at sixty two thousand kilos!" Yami cheered. "That's just over thirty eight thousand five hundred miles per hour!"

"Hey, everyone look up in the opposite direction I flew."

Just as everyone looked, a silver streak blasted across the sky.

"Gods _damn_!" Toshiro couldn't believe his eyes. "She just circled the planet!"

"This planet isn't as big as Earth, but that's still hard to believe," Minna said with wide eyes and a stupefied expression.

"Holy cow!" Shirley shouted with intense excitement. Her great granddaughter, Allison, and great grandson, Jaden, echoed her respond.

"I'm gonna circle the planet again and touch back down when I come over the base," Kye said.

_What did I get pulled into?! If she flies like this... How does she fight?_

* * *

Kye touched down in front of everyone and almost collapsed to the ground, causing several to run to her side.

"I'm fine." She waved them off. "I just need a second. I do _not_ recommend doing what I just did."

"Yeah, turd, you just flew Mach 50." Yami shrugged. "What do you expect?"

_Turd. Haha._

"You really outdid yourself this time," a female voice echoed from the sky.

_Hello, talking sky. I'm Mister Badass._

A black battle kimono clad woman with long black hair, purple eyes, and a single sword strapped to her back appeared in front of Toshiro. "I believe your name is Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss, not Mister Badass."

"Again with the mind reading..."

"You may as well get used to it," Kaylie said after appearing next to the black haired woman.

Layla appeared on the other side of the black haired woman. "It's not like we're gonna tell everyone what you're thinking."

A man with short black hair wearing a black martial arts gi appeared next to them as well. "I see my sister had her amusement with you."

"Can we stop playing musical _poof in front of Toshiro_, please?"

"Aww, what's wrong, _Toshiko_?" Layla asked with a mischievous grin.

"Enough games," a thundering voice, speaking as if it were a thousand at once, echoed through the skies. A muscular man with short grey hair and violet eyes descended from the clouds and landed near Toshiro and the others.

"Now that's an entrance."

"Kye, show yourself."

Toshiro pointed at Kye. "She's right there."

"He means me," the Goddess Kye said as she appeared amongst the group. "By the way, Toshiro, have you had your fill as a girl?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

Kye held her hand out toward Toshiro and enveloped him in a cocoon of rainbow energy that soon became so bright that his body couldn't be seen. After it faded, he emerged as a man.

"I even gave you your male clothing," she said.

Toshiro made a fist. "Feels good to be me again." He glanced between the black haired woman, black haired man, and elderly man. "Can I get some introductions please?"

The black haired man stepped forward and shook hands with Toshiro. "Guten tag, Toshiro. I am Zen Akari, God of Darkness. The lovely black haired woman here is my mother, Lady Xera, Queen of the Gods."

"Greetings, mortal," Xera said.

"You've met the trouble twins." Zen skipped over Kaylie and Layla. "The old man here is Lord Zalen, King of the Gods. Don't let the titles deceive you though, Xera and Zalen are daughter and father. One is retired, so to speak."

"We're missing two," Xera said.

"Zana and Zanith are both in the Arcane Realm," the Goddess Kye said. "They seem to be taking their time."

"Why don't you help them?"

"Yeah, yeah." She snapped her fingers, and magically produced a purple eyed woman with black hair reaching down to her chest. She glared at both Xera and Kye and rolled her eyes. After another snap of her fingers, a man with short black hair and purple eyes appeared as well.

"Just because you have reassumed your position as Goddess of the Seven Stars doesn't mean you have the right to transport us whenever you wish!" the man scolded.

"Doesn't stop me from doing it."

"You may be all powerful, but you are still childish!"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway..." The Goddess turned her eyes to Toshiro. "Toshiro, the man here is Zanith. The woman here is Zana. Yami already mentioned them to you. Both are siblings of Xera. And there you are. You've met all the gods of this universe."

"So let me get this straight..." Toshiro started naming off the gods. "You are the Goddess of the Seven Stars, Rei is the Goddess of Light, Yami is the Goddess of Energy and Mortal Magic, Zen is the God of Darkness, Kaylie is the Goddess of Time and Space, Layla is the Goddess of Creation and Destruction, Xera is the Queen of the Gods, Zalen is the King of the Gods, Zanith is the God of Arcane Magic, and Zana is... the Goddess of War?"

"Right," the Goddess Kye confirmed.

"We will be watching the event," Zalen said. "I expect much."

"Be sure to put on a good show," Xera added.

The Goddess Kye floated a few feet into the air so that everyone could easily see and hear her. "All of you are wondering what this event will be. The event will be an all-out war against the Neuroi. However, the Neuroi you will be fighting will not be cursed Neuri Tribe humans, but instead soulless machines with artificial intelligence. They will work just like the Neuroi forms of the Neuri Tribe. They will have cores and will shatter into white flakes when their core is destroyed. You will encounter all types of Neuroi that has appeared on Earth ranging from small to colossal sized, ranging from Class 1 to 10, and there will even be humanoid types of varying classes. There will also be naval Neuroi shaped like various naval vessels. You will fight Neuroi Hives and Neuroi Bases, the latter which you encountered in the alternate 2012 that the 511th and 516th wings come from. You will come across Neuroi Forts, like from Karlsland in the alternate 2012. These Neuroi will not hesitate to destroy you."

"You are throwing us into another war?" Trude yelled at her. "There's no reason for us to risk our lives in a pointless war."

"You're right, there is no reason," the Goddess Kye said. "However, it will not be a real war. It's a simulation. If you fail and die, you will be removed from the simulation and only be allowed to watch until the end."

"This is not funny." Toshiro could not hide his disgust. "You people pulled me from my world, where there is a _genuine_ Neuroi threat, just to participate in a fake Neuroi war?"

"Pretty much."

Toshiro was furious. "Take me back to my world."

"No."

"Amaterasu!" he yelled.

"She can't help you here, Toshiro."

"Take me back!" He was quickly getting so angry that his sight blurred as he screamed at her. "TAKE ME BACK!"

_ "I'm sorry, Toshiro."_

He suddenly felt his senses fade as he fell forward, unconscious.

Kaylie caught him before he fell to the ground. "Poor guy. The Neuroi in his world are just plain evil. I guess I can't blame him for getting worked up like that." Kaylie looked up at her mother. "Maybe we should return him for now. It was a bad idea to bring him here before the end of the war in his world."

"Perhaps," the Goddess Kye said. "Perhaps that's all the more reason why he should be here. One cannot grow without means to grow. Even a fake war can have a meaning."

"Yeah, yeah, Miss Cryptic." Kaylie sighed. "I'm gonna take him back to his room." She disappeared with Toshiro in tow.


	6. Chapter 6: A Date, So to Speak

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 6: A Date, So to Speak**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1953-**

_ "Did somebody catch the number of that truck...? Yuki... Why the fuck did you zap me? I should lock you out until Amaterasu un-locks you out, fearing for your safety."_

_ "I'm sorry, Toshiro, but I had to play it safe. You were surrounded by people so powerful that they could obliterate you without mobbing their left pinkie toe. And you were about to explode with totally explainable rage... Like literally go fucking berserk."_

_ "But..."_

_ "No buts, T-mon."_

_ "Don't say it like you're from the Caribbean."_

_ "Aye mon."_

_ "Ehhh..."_

_ "Ya bedda look on de bed before ya."_

_ "For fucks sake stop already..."_

_ "Okay, okay... Sheesh... Fucking grumpface..."_

Toshiro opened his eyes and felt slightly woozy.

_ I don't recognize this ceiling... Ah, wait... It's supposedly my room..._

Toshiro looked to his left side, and he saw that one of the redheads, Kaylie from what he could deduce, was resting her head on his left arm, with her left hand slightly gripping his uniform

_ Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwww... How fucking cuuuuuute..._

He placed his right hand on her head and started stroking it gently.

"Mmm..." Kaylie mumbled joyfully as she raised her head. "Now this is a wake up I could live with everyday, heheh..."

"That right is reserved for Yoshika only, sorry."

Kaylie gave him a warm smile. "She's lucky."

"Now, pleasantries aside, will you fucking _poof_ me back to my world? I've had it... Kye is toying with me too much. I've been humiliated multiple times already, and I'm piss mad right now."

"I'm sorry, Toshiro... But I simply can't."

"What do you mean?! You're a fucking goddess, it should be easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy for you!"

"Yes... But Mom mortalized me just in case I might cave in and send you back."

"That bitch..." Toshiro said and unintentionally squeezed Kaylie's head.

"Owowowow, stop!"

"Whoops, sorry..."Toshiro said in an apologetic tone as he took his hand of her head.

"No, I probably deserved it for not listening to mom and bringing you here before the end of the war in your world. I'll probably play devil's advocate right now in your eyes, but please understand that Mom does everything with a purpose in mind. Yes, it looks heartless, doing such a thing to you when you suffered so much from a real Neuroi threat, but please, believe me that she is not doing it from malice or anything."

Toshiro looked at Kaylie for a few long seconds and said, "Can you promise me that?"

"I promise, Toshiro."

"Ah, okay... I hope I can believe you..."

"Oh come on... I carried you here, and I've watched over you ever since you blacked out. And I didn't even think about messing with you, I swear!"

"You look as if you did... Saaaaay... You're mortal now, right?"

"Yes, but don't think of anything stupid. I can still use my time and space magic very well, and Mom wouldn't let you do anything... _vile_ to me."

"Snap..." Toshiro mumbled and sighed deeply. "Okay, so what should I do now?"

"Hmm... Hard call." She thought to herself for a moment. "It's past supper time and it's night time now..." She was briefly interrupted by a grumbling in Toshiro's stomach. "Hehe, looks like somebody needs food."

"I could eat..." Toshiro said wryly.

"Awesome. Let's go on a little food date then."

"A date? I'm kind of taken..."

"Oh stop being so uptight, you don't have to be dating to go on a date... That sounds awkward saying it out loud, but you get the point. There's a burger joint in town I like."

"Okay, okay."

"Yay!" she cheered. "So you get dressed and meet me outside in a few minutes. I'll only take a second." Kaylie floated over the bed and out of the room, closing the door behind her.

_ Grumble grumble... Flying little squirt..._

Toshiro saw that his chest was present in the room, so he approached it and opened the lid.

_ Date or not, I should at least present myself well..._

He pulled out the box with the Grand Cross of the Knight's Cross, and pulled it over his neck. After some fine adjustments before the mirror, he said, "Yup that should do it. No need to wear all my bloody brass for a date at a hamburger joint..."

Toshiro slapped down some of his rebellious hair, walked out of the room, and headed down to the designated meeting place where he leaned against the wall and waited.

_ I wonder... If she's the Goddess of Time and Space, I wonder if she can be late for a meeting... Now that she's mortal... Wow that would be hilarious if she wound up late!_

After a few minutes of waiting, he began to grow curious as to Kaylie's whereabouts. Little did he know, the redhead was sitting on the roof, watching him curiously.

Kaylie whistled and watched as Toshiro glanced around to find the source of the sound. When she whistled a second time, he looked up and found her. "You've been there the whole time, haven't you?"

She giggled and began to recite a passage from a play.

"I wasted time, and now doth time waste me;  
For now hath time made me his numbering clock:  
My thoughts are minutes; and with sighs they jar  
Their watches on unto mine yes, the outward watch,  
Whereto my finger, like a dial's point,  
Is pointing still, in cleansing them from tears.  
Now sir, the sound that tells what hour it is  
Are clamorous goans, which strike upon my heart,  
Which is the bell: so sighs and tears and groans  
Show minutes, times, and hours."

"Impressive..." Toshiro mumbled.

Kaylie jumped down from the roof and landed next to Toshiro. "A little excerpt from Shakespeare's King Richard II to spice up the night."

"I'm a little surprised."

"What? Did you think I was nothing but a rascal?"

"Sort of."

She giggled again. "Judge not by the cover, but what lies beneath. You've yet to discover that hidden in sheath."

"Who are you and what have you done with Kaylie?"

She rolled her eyes and just said, "Come on, Toshiro. I'm hungry."

"By the way..." He said.

"Hmm?"

"I like the dress."

"Oh, this little thing? Aunt Yami made it for me. I've been wanting a simple summer dress for a while, one without sleeves that hang no lower than my knees."

"You're rhyming again."

"Indeed, indeed. Come, o' Toshiro, come I plead. Forward we march, with great speed. At our destination, guaranteed, we will find joy, yes indeed." She paused for a moment. "Thanks, by the way."

"No reason not to compliment your beauty. Your long red hair really comes out with that light green dress, and I noticed it's wavy now."

"Layla and I both normally keep our hair straightened. It's more difficult to manage like this. When we straighten it, though, we have to be careful. Water tends to defer it to its natural state."

"Ah ha. Well, anyway, shall we go?"

"We shall."

"Wait!" a voice identical to Kaylie's called from afar. Layla ran up to them before they could leave.

"Layla, not now, please. Toshiro and I are going to get a bite to eat."

"I'm hungry, too."

"Mom mortalized you, too, huh?"

"Well... When she mortalized you, I took advantage of it and turned your _crib_ to rotten wood."

"You what?!"

"Mom caught me before I finished. She fixed it and did this to me."

Kaylie sighed. "Well, go get dressed. I know you have a blue version of my dress."

"'Kay. Be right back!" Layla ran into the building.

"How long is she going to take?" Toshiro wondered out loud.

"Shouldn't be but a minute."

Within two minutes, Layla reemerged from the doorway. "'Kay, I'm ready!"

"Then go we shall," Toshiro said. "Oh for fucks sake, now I've started ye olde'ing..."

Layla raised her eyebrow in wonder while Kaylie giggled slightly.

* * *

As the trio made their way through town, an idea popped into Layla's head. "Hey, sis, we should do a duet for Toshiro."

"Oh?"

"You girls sing?" Toshiro asked.

"Only in the shower," Layla giggled. "No, we play violin."

"Violin, you say? Hoho! I can only play the trumpet like a total amateur..."

"We could have a little concert tomorrow night if you'd like to hear us play," Kaylie offered. "We might even be able to get some of the others to perform."

"Who else plays?"

"Pretty much all of us from the Light Kingdom can play various instruments. Mom taught Layla and me the violin. Mom prefers the violin and guitar, though she can play anything with strings. Same for Aunt Yami, but her preference is guitar, bass, or keyboards. Uncle Zen can play the guitar and anything percussion. Our older sister, Rei, is the best at the piano or keyboards."

"Sounds like your family is multi-talented. Then again, you're all gods."

"Oh, that has nothing to do with it," Layla said. "We learned to play music and other arts before we ascended to godhood."

"You _ascended_ to godhood? In which line should I stand to get a share for myself?"

"I should have picked my words better. We are born with godly power, but that power doesn't awaken until after puberty. The first sixteen to twenty years of our lives are no different from a mortal's life. We are born as babies and grow to adults. Then we start our lives as _infant gods_, so to speak. Some of us don't awaken our power until our twenties. Mom was a late bloomer, but when she bloomed... Whew."

"We were told stories about that," Kaylie added, "so Layla and I took a little time travel trip to see what happened. It was a few years after we were born. That was when Uncle Zen turned all evil and tried to kill everyone. He did succeed in killing several million mortals in the Light Kingdom."

"Why the hell would he do that?" Toshiro asked.

"When he awakened his powers as the God of Darkness, he couldn't take it. He went on for a few years, but his emotions finally consumed him. He went on a rampage. Aunt Yami had already awakened her powers, but she didn't have the heart to fight Uncle Zen. Aunt Yami is too kindhearted for confrontation with her loved ones, but don't get me wrong, she's not a pushover by any stretch of the imagination."

"What happened next?"

"Mom awakened her power and simultaneously learned how to use Jouten," Layla said. "She was only the Goddess of Light at the time, but her power was already greater than her siblings, and Jouten carries the power to destroy immortality. Of course, when Mom's mortal self, Kye Miyafuji, summons and wields Jouten, it does not carry that power."

"Mom fought Uncle Zen and beat him badly," Kaylie continued. "He retreated after that. Mom disappeared as well. She never did tell anyone where she went. Even Zalen couldn't find out."

"Think she might have gone to another universe?" Toshiro asked.

"I don't think so. I only have my suspicions, but I believe she went to the Nexus."

"What that?"

"We don't know anything about it, or if it even exists," Layla said.

Kaylie sighed. "With all my power as the Goddess of Time and Space, I have not been able to find it, but I believe it exists."

"And anytime we ask Mom about it, she says it doesn't exist," Layla added.

"Hmm," Toshiro mused. "That woman seems to have a lot of secrets."

"Yeah, no kidding."

"We're here." Kaylie pointed at a nearby building that had a sign in Britannian reading "Burgers".

* * *

"Just because you're a god, don't think you're better than me, Rei!" a female voice shouted.

"I don't need to be a god to be better than you, Ren," Rei replied smugly.

"We're on even grounds right now. Why don't we have a match?"

"No thanks. I don't need to prove anything to you."

A familiar black haired man stood up from his seat, walked over to the arguing girls, and bonked them on the head.

"Oww! Dad!"

"You two are making a scene."

Toshiro raised an eyebrow and whispered to his two escorts. "What did we just walk into?"

"Rei and Ren have a sort of rivalry between each other."

"Ah."

"But Dad! I will not stand to..."

The black haired man, who Toshiro recognized as Kye's brother, Zen, clapped his hands, instantly silencing everyone and claiming their attention. "We're doing spars tomorrow. Settle it then."

Rei shot Ren a sharp look. "I'll make sure to settle it."

Ren held her right hand out, and in it appeared a jet black katana. "What was that?"

Rei stood up and summoned two normal looking twin katanas that had a gold trim to them. "I said, "I'll make sure to settle it." I know you're not deaf."

"You won't get the chance." Ren sprung toward Rei with her sword in midswing, but before either could react, they found cubical barriers around both of them.

Kaylie stepped forward, with her staff already summoned. Layla summoned her bow and drew back an arrow. Kaylie sensed it and turned around. "Layla, put that away! You'll blow up the whole town!"

"But..." Layla mumbled as she reluctantly dismissed her bow.

Kaylie sighed and turned back to Rei and Ren. "You two cut it out this instant! I'll not have you destroying the only burger joint in town! Now, Ren put away Hellion, and Rei put away Tenrai and Tenshi. If you break as much as a table here, I'll teleport you both to the common room on the base without your clothes!"

Both Rei and Ren dismissed their blades with frightened faces.

"Whew." Zen applauded. "Kaylie, I'm glad you cured that quickly, but I don't exactly approve of you teleporting my daughter somewhere naked."

"Then you solve it sooner next time," Kaylie said adamantly.

Layla raised up and whispered into Toshiro's ear. "Watch this." She formed a tiny black orb of magic in her hand and tossed it over at a table in front of Kaylie. The orb disintegrated the table instantly.

Kaylie turned slowly toward Layla, and Toshiro saw a very annoyed look on her face. Kaylie didn't say a word, but merely raised her hand toward Layla, who soon disappeared. Her dress fell to the floor, but soon disappeared as well.

Kaylie sighed as she returned Layla, fully dressed, back to their presence.

"Ha! I knew you wouldn't do it!" Layla laughed.

"Yeah, yeah, just fix the table," Kaylie mumbled as she took a seat near the others. Toshiro watched as a table miraculously appeared out of thin air.

"You people and your powers... I swear," he said as he took a seat next to Kaylie, soon joined by Layla. "So why didn't you go through with it?"

"I changed my mind."

"Go ahead. Tell him." Layla had a mischievous grin on her face.

"Because teleporting you naked is the same as teleporting me naked."

"Ashamed of your own body?" Toshiro said with a grin even more mischievous than Layla's.

In an instant, he got his face slapped from both sides.

"Prudes..." Toshiro mumbled.

"Of course I'm not ashamed," Kaylie said. "I'm a goddess with a figure to match." She made an hourglass shape with her hands. "It's the perverted thoughts men have when they see an attractive woman. They go into overdrive when they get to see said woman without clothes. If I did that to Layla, she'd forward those thoughts to me, which would effectively be me punishing myself."

"Fucking mind readers..."

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I can take your order now."

"Monster," Kaylie said. "Grape soda. That's all."

"Same thing," Layla echoed.

"What's a monster?" Toshiro asked.

"This," Zen said, holding up his rather large burger. "It's a three quarter pounder."

"That's a big one..." Toshiro suddenly got a bright idea.

_ "If you are thinking what I think you're thinking... Don't do it."_

_ "I'm doing it, Yuki."_

_ "Don't do it."_

_ "I'm doing it."_

_ "You'll regret it."_

_ "Just for that... I'm taking it up a notch. No double for me."_

"I'll take a Triple Monster."

Everyone's jaws dropped, nobody excluded.

"Bu-but, sir... That's..."

"That's two and a quarter pounds of good eating, that is."

"Y-yes... I'll have your order ready right away."

Both Kaylie and Layla had sour expressions. "I hope you know what you're doing..."

"You even said that in unison."

An hour later, Toshiro was lying in bed with an upset stomach. He moaned loudly.

_ "Yuki... Help..."_

_ "Told you so."_


	7. Chapter 7: A Capable Spar

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 7: A Capable Spar**

* * *

**-April 6th, 1953-**

_"Wake up, Toshiro. You're about to have a guest."_

"Toshiro!" the familiar voice of Kaylie cheered loudly upon opening his door.

_ "Too late."_

"Mmmruughh..." Toshiro moaned as he opened his eyes and leaned up. "What time is it?"

"Zero six hundred," Kaylie responded before Yuki.

"Hey, I was gonna tell him!" Yuki said through Toshiro.

"Time is kind of my thing, yo. So, Yukishiro, you two should get ready and come down to the main building. We're starting training today, and a few people want a piece of you."

"They want a piece of me?" Toshiro asked. "Any of them hot?"

"Well, Minna and I are the only girls that want to have a round, so two."

"Well, then come on in, close the door, strip 'em down, and let's go!"

She giggled. "Jeez, you got it bad. I don't even have to probe your mind to know you want to add "having sex with a god" to your repertoire."

"I can want what I want. I have to have _some_ ambitions, right?"

"Hehe, well the only way you can get that from me is if Layla agrees to it, too."

Toshiro sprang up out of bed when he heard that. "You're shitting me."

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm serious," she sang. "One way to find out!"

"Huh..."

"Get dressed and come to the main building. Everyone should be there within the next fifteen minutes."

"Okay."

"Oh, and if you do pursue Layla and me, you'll want to wait to _cash in_ until Mom returns us to our godly positions. _Trust_ me, it's worth it."

"Is that so? You sound like you speak from experience."

Kaylie walked over to Toshiro and seductively leaned over him, sliding her hands over his arms and putting her breasts within an inch of his face before leaning down to meet his eyes. "It wouldn't be the first time Layla and I double teamed a man." She vanished.

_ Did I just get teased into a threesome with goddesses? Twin sister goddesses at that..._

Toshiro got up and got dressed, electing to leave his medals behind since they'd possibly get in the way during an intense sparring match. He took a look at himself in the mirror. "All set."

As he approached his door, he got a bright idea.

_ Since nobody else seems to like using the proper method of leaving a building..._

He walked over to the window, opened it and jumped out.

_ ...Why should I?_

He landed and started toward the main building, but soon thought of something.

_ Wait... Didn't she say last night that her Mom wouldn't let me do anything "vile" to her...? Is she playing with me, or did she just say that to... Hmm. No wonder those two are called the "Trouble Twins". Haha, this just got interesting, but I have to play it safe or my balls won't be blue just from the _lack_ of sex..._

* * *

Toshiro entered the base's main building and wondered the hallway looking for the room he was supposed to go to.

"Grumble grumble, the redhead didn't tell me which room," he mumbled as he continued through the building, checking each room as he went. He found a kitchen, dining room, communications room, and a rather large room with several tables across from the kitchen and dining room, but he found no people.

He didn't find anyone until he came upon a staircase.

"Hey, you must be that Toshiro fella I've heard about," a wizard said. Toshiro took a quick look and figured him to be about eighteen. The guy jumped down the stairs and offered his hand for a shake. "The name's Jaden Ventus."

"Yeah, I'm Toshiro. Kaylie told me everyone was meeting here somewhere, but you're the only one here."

"Everyone's upstairs already," Jaden said. "C'mon, mate. I'll show ya where."

_ Mate? He a Brit or what? Or maybe from down under..._

"Lead the way."

Toshiro followed Jaden up the stairs and down two hallways before they stopped in front of a door.

"Here we are," Jaden said.

The door was partially open. As Toshiro reached for the doorknob, Jaden held up his hand. He pointed at the top of the door, where a small part of the bottom of a bucket could be seen.

_ "It's water."_

"It's water," Jaden whispered.

"You and Yuki just said the same thing at the same time," Toshiro said. He grinned as an idea sprouted in his mind. "I got this."

He summoned Aganaimaru, activated his Sacred Flame, and pushed the door open. With time slowed by one hundred fold, the bucket barely moved before Toshiro sliced it in two. He resumed the flow of time and just walked through the door while each half of the bucket fell on either side of him and the water vaporized as it touched his Sacred Flame.

"Who's the wise guy?" he asked with a maniacal grin while maintaining Sacred Flame and resting Aganaimaru over his shoulder.

"That was a slick move, mate," Jaden said.

Toshiro walked into the room and glanced around at the audience of witches and wizards sitting at the benches at the right side of the room. Each bench was raised slightly higher than the one in front.

"Eeek!" he heard a female voice.

_ "Yuki, which one was that?"_

_ "Two rows up, fifth from the left."_

Toshiro immediately found the one he was looking for, but somebody else took credit for the prank.

"Damn it, Jaden, you weren't supposed to give it away!" a girl slightly resembling Shirley shouted.

"Now I couldn't just let you go and prank the guy that soon."

"I ought to make you run laps around the base for giving it away."

"You think I'd do it."

"You would if I ordered you to."

"Oh I would, would I?"

"Both of you _can_ it." a blonde haired young woman said with clear authority in her voice.

The two straightened up instantly and spoke in unison. "Yes ma'am, General Hartmann."

"General Hartmann? I must be hallucinating..."

"No, you heard them right," the girl said as she walked toward Toshiro. He saw a glaive taller than her strapped to her back. "I am Major General Isabel Hartmann, Head Commander of the 511th Joint Fighter Wing, the Vast Witches."

"Head Commander? What makes that different from a plain old Commander?"

"Lion, Val, Yusu, front and center."

The giant Toshiro remembered from the previous day, along with a young man of a height similar to his own and a Fuso girl that bore a striking resemblance to Yoshika, stood up from their respective seats and made their way to the floor.

"Who are you?" Bell asked.

"Colonel Valterri Iilvari Virtanen, Commander of the 511th European Sect."

"Colonel Lionhardt Barkhorn, Commander of the 511th Liberion Sect."

"Colonel Yoshika Miyafuji II, Commander of the 511th Fuso Sect. Please call me "Yusu" so as to not mix up my great grandmother and myself."

"Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss," Toshiro responded. "Why are there three sectors in the 511th?"

"The 511th has thirty two members," Kye answered. "It's split into three separate groups, each with its own Commander and Battle Commander. As such, it needs an overall Commander, of which Bell fills the role."

"Makes sense."

"All of you take your seats," Kye said.

With nowhere open, Toshiro opted to just lean against the wall with the lot from the Light Kingdom.

"We'll be training until zero eight hundred, after which breakfast will be served in the mess hall. After that we'll be training until twelve hundred, breaking for two hours, and then training until sixteen hundred. Optional training can be done afterward for as long as you wish. Night witches will be training on a different schedule, but since they are still in bed, I'm not going over that."

Toshiro glanced around the room and found that Sanya and Eila were missing. He did notice that Hanna Rudel, who wasn't present at the base in Berlin, was now present.

"Today's training schedule is the following. Early morning is sparring, late morning is jogging, and afternoon is Ultimates, which we'll all group up for that. I need to see how much everyone has advanced. The time schedule will be the same each day until our little _fake war_ begins. After that, the training schedules will be adjusted as necessary. The activities of each day's training will be different as to not develop training habits. Any questions for today's training?"

"Yeah, me," Toshiro said. "A certain redhead told me that some of you wanted a piece of me. If that's right, I'd like to know who."

"Other than Minna and Kaylie, Lion and Fried also requested spars with you yesterday after you blacked out. Mio, Ayaka, and Katsu requested spars with you as well, but I denied them."

"Why for?"

"You're not strong enough to have a proper spar with Mio or Ayaka, and Katsu... Well, I'll just slap the same reason on for her as well. You're pretty much outclassed by all of your sparring partners, but the ones I approved will be able to hold back enough for a proper spar. Mio, Ayaka, and Katsu don't know the meaning of the word "restraint"."

"I feel like a fish out of water in your world."

"You'll feel much better when you get your _power up._ If you show me good results this morning, I might be able to convince my goddess counterpart to move it up."

Toshiro raised his fist. "Count on it. I'll show you a hell of a show."

"Prove it," Kye said. "Everyone! We're moving to the field to the north." Kye turned around and blasted a hole in the wall with a beam of light magic.

_ The fuck...?_

She shrugged. "It'll get fixed."

"Did you just read my mind?"

"Didn't have to." She jumped through the hole, followed by the mass of witches and wizards.

* * *

Just as everyone arrived in the field, Kye gestured at Toshiro, Minna, Fried, Lion, and Kaylie and lead them to the hangar.

"What's up mortal Mom?" Kaylie asked, causing Kye to shoot her an annoyed glance.

"You know I have a physic link with the other me, right? We're not exactly separate beings."

_ Not separate beings? One person being two people at once... Gods..._

Toshiro mentally sighed.

"Yeah, I know."

"Each of you put on your SFS. You'll find them in your lockers. There's gender specific rooms in the back of the hangar for you to change in if you are uncomfortable doing so in front of the opposite sex. Don't lollygag." Kye left the group of five.

Before Toshiro even could turn around, Kaylie walked by him with her SFS already on. "That was fast."

"Time magic, Buddy Bro. I hear you're familiar with it."

Toshiro diluted time and quickly found his locker. He changed into his SFS, which instantly changed color to match his tastes. The majority of it turned black, but the belt, rims of his sleeves and collar, and his gloves turned dark red.

After resuming the flow of time, Toshiro noticed the colors on Kaylie's SFS, being a normal shade of red where his was black and white where his was dark red.

"Well, that was interesting to watch," Kaylie said with a mischievous grin.

"You watched me change with time slowed down."

"Goddess of Time and Space, remember? I kind of specialize in it. Even while I'm a mortal, no mortal can rival me in it."

"Yeah, yeah, damn gods..."

Minna, Lion, and Fried just sighed, changed, and followed the two back outside and stood in a line in front of Kye.

"Who wants to go first?" she asked.

Minna stepped forward. "I will."

"Alright, everyone else, stand back."

Minna and Toshiro stood roughly five meters apart, facing each other.

"All set?"

Trude tossed Minna's glaive over to her. "Set."

Toshiro summoned Aganaimaru. "Set."

"You may begin."

* * *

Minna gripped her glaive, flared her Magic Aura to life, and ran up toward Toshiro. Toshiro responded by activating Sacred Flame, diluting time, and running toward her, but as he tried to grab her, she still managed to dodge and counter, albeit slowed down slightly.

"I diluted time by a hundred! How did you dodge me?" Toshiro asked as he resumed the flow of time.

"I used my aura power to temporarily copy time magic from Kaylie. I can't dilute time as much since I'm not experienced with it, but with my Detection Aura enhancing both my Area Analysis and my physical abilities, I can somewhat manage."

Toshiro smirked. "Can you manage this?" He diluted time again and turned invisible, but as soon as he tried to approach Minna from the side, he found the blunt end of her glaive ramming him in the chest, which ended both his invisibility and time dilution.

Minna returned his smirk.

"That smarts. I should have figured you could detect me with your magic."

"Come on, enough with the time magic!" Trude called at them, annoyed. "We want to actually _see_ the fight!"

Toshiro sighed and looked toward Minna. "Looks like we're having a good old fashioned fight."

Minna spun her glaive in circles and twisted around, ending with her holding the glaive face down, just inches from the ground, parallel with her arm. She raised her left hand up and gestured at Toshiro to come at her.

Toshiro gripped his sword and sprang forward with incredible speed, aided only by using his super strength magic to propel himself from the ground.

"**Reppuzan!**" Toshiro yelled as he swung his sword toward Minna.

"**Zauberschlag.**" Minna countered with a similar technique.

Their two magic discharges collided and exploded, throwing both backwards a fair distance. Each reacted quickly and ran back up to each other, engaging in a fierce melee duel.

Toshiro sliced and diced, but Minna blocked every blow and countered by throwing him off balance with her glaive. Toshiro recovered just in time to block a broadside attack from Minna's glaive, but he had to erect a shield to block the next attack.

"**Todesschlag!**" Minna empowered her glaive with magic and aimed a pummel with the blunt end of her glaive at Toshiro's chest. His shield and Sacred Flame absorbed most of the damage, but he was still flung backwards into the air.

Without even thinking, Toshiro recovered and floated in midair for only a second before launching a more powerful attack. "**Shin Reppuzan!**"

"**Großer Zauberschlag!**" Minna countered with the Karlslander version of his attack, though Minna put more power into hers and overpowered his, but Toshiro protected himself from the remaining damage by launched a normal Reppuzan at Minna's blast, which was weakened by his first attack, canceling out the remainder.

Minna didn't miss a beat and had already flown up above Toshiro and tried to kick him to the ground, but he merely grabbed her leg and tossed her downward.

She responded by firing a beam of magic upwards from her glaive. "**Zauberstrahl!**"

_ She just keeps pulling techniques out of a magic bag or something. _Shit_, this world doesn't play around..._

Toshiro split the beam with his sword and launched a series of Rending Gales, following up with a Reppuzan down toward Minna.

Minna blocked the Rending Gales by swatting them away with her glaive, but she just held the glaive up and let the Reppuzan hit it. "**Gegenschlag!**" She absorbed the Reppuzan, added her own power to it, held her glaive up again, and fired the blast of magic back toward Toshiro.

Suddenly, a SFS magic platform appeared under Toshiro's feet, allowing him to kick off toward the side to avoid the incoming blast with less than a second to spare. Noticing that Minna was breathing slightly harder than normal, he took the opportunity to fly down toward her while pouring magic into his blade.

He extended his sword forward and attempted a stabbing variant of the Reppuzan. Minna countered with a near identical technique, but before their attacks collided, Rei appeared in between them with both her swords and effortlessly blocked them both, suffering no damage herself.

"What the fuck?!" both shouted at her at once.

"You two were getting out of hand," Rei said.

Kye walked up to them and explained, "That last collision would have seriously injured both of you, and even if it hadn't, neither of you were going to ease up. Even with the fact that Yoshika could easily patch up both of you, this is a sparring match, not a death match."

"I got caught up in the fun," Minna said. "Sorry."

Kye turned to Toshiro. "Despite that, I am impressed. You pushed Minna to use that many techniques. Even if she was holding back at first, she slowly started letting go a bit more as the fight progressed. You didn't manage to get her to use her full strength, but she raise the bar a fair bit."

"Thanks."

"Although, it looks like we have to postpone the rest of the spars until you recover. You expended a lot of your magic energy in that fight, as did Minna. Neither of you could properly participate in another spar right away."

"Neither of us could probably do a pushup... So, what now?"

"I wouldn't say you spent that much… anyway, just watch everyone else for now and rest up until breakfast. We'll have the rest of your spars after."

"I thought we were jogging."

"After that, everyone will want to see you in action again, especially Lion and Fried. Those two are grinning like a couple birthday boys." Kye glanced over her shoulder, as did Toshiro.

"Haha."

Kye turned back to the mass of people. "Start training. You'll get more of this show after breakfast."

Everyone sighed and went about their training.


	8. Chapter 8: It's Over 9000!

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 8: It's Over 9000!**

* * *

**-April 6th, 1953-**

After his sparring matches with Fried and Lion, and after the jogging, Toshiro sat on top of the main building and looked out across the field. The damage it had suffered from the earlier fights was no longer there. Just by looking at it, nobody could tell anything had happened out there.

_ The spars with Fried and Lion were child's play compared to my fight with Minna. They weren't pushovers by any stretch of the imagination, but they were a lot better about holding back, and we were more careful not to get out of hand. This world really is something else. I wasn't expecting Minna to be that strong, and it looked like she still had a few aces up her sleeve. And she handled that glaive like it was cakewalk._

_ "Hey, Yuki, what all techniques did Minna use?"_

_ "Todesschlag, Zauberschlag, Großer Zauberschlag, Zauberstrahl, and Gegenschlag."_

_ "Death Strike, Magic Strike, Greater Magic Strike, Magic Beam, and Backlash."_

_ "Two of them resembled the Reppuzan and Shin Reppuzan a lot."_

_ "Maybe they are Karlsland versions. I hope somebody will be nice enough to teach them to me."_

_ "I'm not so sure it would be a good idea for you to learn techniques in this world."_

_ "What could it hurt? I've already trained with Amaterasu."_

_ "Maybe."_

_ "Heh... We're really in over our heads here, Yuki. Minna was something else, and the other girls all had some incredible tricks, too. Did you see what Lucchini did?"_

_ "That little boob devil set the sky on fire."_

_ "I think she called it an "Augmented Ultimate". To think that little twerp could turn out so powerful."_

_ "Don't forget that she's older than you here. If she has the same birthdate as in our world, she should be twenty one here."_

"You look like you're pretty deep in thought," came the familiar voice of a certain blonde Karlslander who walked up to and joined him in sitting on the edge of the building.

"Oh hey, Erica. Yeah, I was having a mental conversation with my familiar, Yuki. I'm having a little trouble adjusting to your world. Everything is so much... It's hard to describe, really."

"Eight years ago, if you had told me that we'd be as strong as we are now, I'd probably have called you a liar. Back then, using Sturm more than a few times in a row would put me to sleep from exhaustion. Now, I can use Großer Sturm with my melee techniques with ease."

"Who was that other Hartmann? Isabel I think her name was?"

"My great granddaughter. All of the 511th are the great grandchildren of the 501st, and the older members are almost as strong as we are. Bell could give me a run for my money. She's almost as good with a glaive as I am."

"I noticed that a lot of the Karlslanders use glaives."

"You can blame that on me. I didn't much like the idea of playing with swords, but Kye suggested all of us learn melee techniques, we had to pick something. I wanted to train with a staff, but I needed a bladed weapon to mix my wind magic with melee techniques, so I picked a pole arm, a glaive specifically."

"I've never really thought about using anything other than my fists or a sword when it comes to martial arts."

"Trudy refuses to use any sort of weapon, but she sucked it up and settled with gauntlets. You should see her Trümmerschlag technique. Since you have Super Strength magic, you could probably learn it."

"Shattering Strike?"

"Yeah. It's like the Todesschlag technique Minna used on you, but unlike that technique, the Trümmerschlag can only be used unarmed, and it requires Super Strength magic. Trudy basically combines the Todesschlag with another technique called Power Strike, and boom! The first time she used Power Strike, she shattered the core of a Neuroi Fort like it was nothing, and those things were pretty durable. She also used it to destroy a super large type Neuroi just by hitting it from the outside. The thing just blew apart, so just imagine what the Trümmerschlag can do!"

"Sounds like my kind of technique."

"I kind of wish we had you around when back in 1945. You would've fit right in."

"It's still 1945 in my world. Before I was snatched up and brought here, I was actually heading to Belgica to drop in on you, Minna, and Trude."

"I wonder how much your Erica and I are alike."

"Take a guess."

"Let's see... I bet she has a messy room, probably says "Forty more minutes!", and is carefree outside of combat."

"You nailed it."

"Does your Erica have a high IQ?"

"One seven zero."

"Hmm. Is that a secret between you two, or does everyone know?"

"She doesn't even know that I know yet. What about you?"

"I ended up telling Trudy, but she didn't believe me. Still doesn't as a matter of fact, but whatever. It doesn't mean anything to me really. Back in 1945, I made sure to keep it a secret. I had enough stress as it was being one of the top aces in Karlsland, and when little miss "World's Strongest Witch" came and reformed the 501st... Well shit escalated pretty quick. I imagine your Erica is hiding it, too. Speaking of which, what's your IQ?"

"One seventy five. I was recently retested during my stay in Neue Karlsland."

"Ah, damn."

"What?"

"I was hoping you'd be higher than Kye, but that's a fleeting dream."

"Oh? What's her IQ? The mortal one."

"Two twenty five."

"Fifty points higher than me? Gods damn..."

"Yeah. It took Dr. Miyafuji fifty years to perfect the Air Band and Striker Flight Suit technology. Kye reinvented it from scratch in one year, and drastically improved it."

"I blame it on her godly counterpart."

"She insists that her goddess self didn't give her any help in that regard."

"Hmm. I don't know if I can take that for truth."

"It's a hard call, honestly. Kye has always been... Different, even before she regained her memories from being from the Light Kingdom and being the Goddess of Light."

"Goddess of Light?"

"I've had quite an odd upbringing," Kye suddenly said, startling both Erica and Toshiro.

"You've gotta stop doing that..." Erica sighed. "Welp, you can explain about yourself a whole lot better than me, and I'm getting hungry. I'll talk to you later, Toshiro." Erica jumped off the roof and disappeared from sight.

"You ran her off," Toshiro mumbled.

"She was about to leave anyway."

"And you know that how?"

"Look at me."

Toshiro turned, and saw that he was graced with the Goddess Kye's presence. "Oh. It's you."

"Oh, come on, don't be a sourpuss. I have a good reason for bringing you here."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Go ahead and tell me about yourself."

"I was born nine thousand eighty years ago in the year 8028 BCE on December 10th as Crown Princess Kye Akari of the Light Kingdom," she began. "I was born with godly power, and when that power awakened in my twenties, I assumed the role of Goddess of Light. At the time, that was my divinity. Thirty six years ago, I decided to perform a Divine Rebirth and was born as the mortal Kye Miyafuji.

"At that time, my consciousness was split," she continued. "One half was my immortal self, Kye Akari, and the other half was my mortal self, Kye Miyafuji. I was born as the younger sister of Ichiro Miyafuji. My mortal self was not given any of the vast power my immortal self possessed, though my mortal incarnation's inherent magic, Light Magic, was based on my divinity.

"All throughout my life as a mortal, I had no idea who I really was," she continued further. "I had believed I was merely _named after_ the Goddess of Light, rather than _being_ the Goddess of Light. It wasn't until Xera transported the 501st through time from the year 1952 to the year 2012 - exactly sixty years into the future - that I started to piece together who I was."

"That's a little hard to swallow," Toshiro said.

"There's a lot more to it, but perhaps it would be better to just show you everything that happened in my life as Kye Miyafuji."

Kye touched Toshiro's forehead and passed on the knowledge of the entirety of Kye Miyafuji's life, from her birth on December 10, 1917, to the classified incident in 1934, to the Fuso Sea Incident in 1937, to the events with the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing in 1944, to the events of Operation Worldwide Liberation, and even the events of the Third Neuroi War in the alternate future.

"Whoa..." Toshiro gasped and took a deep breath. "That was... an experience."

"So you were the Primordial Goddess of this world long before any of the other gods existed... And you sealed your power and was reborn as the immortal Kye Akari, then as the mortal Kye Miyafuji, but at the end of the Third Neuroi War, you regained your former power and became the Goddess of the Seven Stars?"

"That's right," Kye said calmly with closed eyes. "As far as lives go, I have one of the most complex."

"I'd call it a clusterfuck."

She giggled. "Pretty much. I am Omnipotent, Omniscient, and all those other Omni things you could relate to a true god. There's nothing I'm not capable of. Being destined for such a position is far from simple."

"Are you capable of death?"

"I've died twice. Once when I ended my life as the Primordial Goddess and was reborn anew as Kye Akari, and once when I sacrificed my life as Kye Miyafuji to save my twin daughters."

"I saw that in the memories you gave me. I felt both your love and your fear for them."

"They were sentenced to mortal imprisonment. If they had died, they would have simply ceased to exist. I would have done anything in my power to stop that. After becoming Goddess of the Seven Stars, I erased mortal imprisonment from the minds of anyone who was capable of casting it."

"I don't blame you."

"I have never been afraid of death, but the time I almost lost Kaylie and Layla... I couldn't bear the thought."

"I can't imagine that. I don't know what it's like to have children."

"You will someday."

"I bet you know when."

"Hehe." She giggled.

"So what about your life before Kye Miyafuji? You didn't show me that."

"Another time, Toshiro. You're getting hungry."

"No I'm..." His stomach growled. "Gods damn it..."

"I'm parting ways for now, but before I go…" Kye placed her hand on Toshiro's chest, after which his entire body glowed briefly. "I have given you my blessing. In this world, when immortals and gods lower themselves to mortal standards, they can only be as powerful as the most powerful mortal, which in this world is Yoshika. You will find that your power, until you leave my world, will behave in a similar fashion."

Toshiro felt the power well up inside him as he made a fist. "I feel it."

"You are much stronger now and will be able to compete with the mortalized immortals, as well as the strongest members of the 501st."

"I thought I wasn't getting a power-up until a few days into the week."

"This was always my plan. I just told you otherwise so it'd be a surprise to you. Do you like your surprise?"

"Heh..."

"Good. Now run along, Toshiro, and enjoy Lucchini's special Spaghetti recipe. Her husband is very picky, and even he jumps all over her Spaghetti. Sayonara." She vanished.

Toshiro, feeling invigorated, instead of going straight to lunch, he summoned Aganaimaru, activated the full power of his Sacred Flame, which burned with an intensity he had never felt before, and launched an immensely powerful Shin Reppuzan into the sky.

He fell to his knees as he watched in awe as the massive wave of magic flew into the sky. Excitement welled up inside him until he couldn't contain it any longer. He pumped his fist into the air and shouted at the top of his lungs so loud that his voice could be heard from the heavens.

"HELL YEAH!"


	9. Chapter 9: Battle's Eve

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 9: Battle's Eve**

* * *

**-April 11th, 1953-**

Over the next few days, Toshiro trained and drilled with the various members of the Strike Witches, as well as a few of the mortalized immortals, to better learn their fighting style and work on teamwork.

His most prominent teachers were Yoshika, Kye, and Mio. Yoshika, being the most defensive fighter, showed him how her favorite methods involve small teams of two to four where she protects them so they can focus completely on the offensive. Kye, being the most balanced fighter, showed him her own methods where she prefers small teams, but can easily split off into solo combat while balancing defense and offense. Mio, being the most offensive fighter, focused on methods including combination, flanking, and weak point offensives.

Toshiro absorbed the knowledge. He practiced flying with Minna, Erica, and Trudy, working on formations that were impossible with strikers, but doable with the Air Band and SFS units. Minna taught him how to find the most dangerous targets in a large force, and despite his greater size Erica managed to teach him how to weave through targets and pick off those dangerous ones. Trudy, along with her great grandchildren, Lion and Rose, taught him something only they could teach since he had Super Strength magic. The Barkhorn group taught him a Blitzkrieg offensive that relied heavily on raining down a barrage of gunfire, followed up with powerful unarmed strikes on larger opponents with two or more super strength users flanking and striking a target in tandem, which would virtually disintegrate the target.

He practiced high speed combat with the resident speed expert, Shirley. Although he couldn't copy her magic, he was able to learn some of her style, nonetheless. Lucchini, having an idea about Toshiro's Sacred Flame, worked with him on using it as an offensive ability, and they developed an ultimate level ability with Sacred Flame in the process. He could throw fire at targets and burn them. Not only that, but Lucchini taught him to take a large fireball, compact it, throw it, and watch as it exploded on contact.

"My fireball exploded?" Toshiro asked.

"If you are as smart as you say you are, you should know what an explosion is. An explosion is basically a super-fast burn," Lucchini explained.

"Physics 101."

"And I would know since explosions are my thing. And boobs."

"I somehow knew you would add boobs in there."

After his training with Lucchini, he moved on to Sanya and Eila for nighttime tactics. Certain tactics could only be performed with the SFS, such as the "Death from Above" tactic where they hovered at an ultra-high altitude until the opportune moment and descended rapidly, attacking their opponent from above with overwhelming force. They also covered several three person strategies for dispatching both large numbers quickly and large targets quickly at night. Since their SFS units provided a degree of stealth, they told him how Neuroi are not able to detect them at night so long as they keep their power in check. This made guerrilla tactics much more viable at night.

Lynne, being the resident sniping expert, worked with Toshiro for long distance combat. He was surprised at how experienced she was with not only a sniper rifle, but cannons as well. Perrine worked with him on using his Sacred Flame with his sword, similar to how she uses her lightning magic with her enchanted rapier.

Rei, being the only one that preferred and had complete mastery over dual-wield combat, trained Toshiro in methods using two swords. He learned a lot of various dual-wield techniques training with her, including the Twin Reppuzan, Spinning Dragon, and Dance of Death techniques.

After his training with the various members of the 501st, he finally had his sparring match with Kaylie. She pushed him hard and showed him several techniques that could be used with time dilution magic, something only the two of them could use effectively. He took a lot out of his sparring match and ended up training with Kaylie for several hours. It wasn't until Layla showed up that the two stopped. Layla didn't have much to offer him, since her magic was extraordinarily rare, even among mortals, but she did teach him a few things about using a bow.

Something Toshiro wasn't expecting was to learn from Liliana's shy sister, Shadow. While in training, she was a completely different person. Toshiro couldn't tell she was shy at all during her course. Since Toshiro was capable of using stealth abilities, Shadow worked with him to better that ability, and although Toshiro's abilities couldn't compare with her Shadow Magic, he did manage to learn how to conceal his magic signature so well and use his invisibility to the point where he could sneak up on targets and use the nighttime guerrilla tactics that he learned from Sanya and Eila during the day.

One of the training sessions Toshiro was looking forward to the most was the one with Liliana. She explained to him that all immortals were able to read minds to some extent, but only a few possessed full blown telepathy. The difference was explained to him that those with actual telepathy could influence the mind of others and freely communicate with others through their mind. Toshiro agreed with Liliana that silent communication like that could come in handy in combat since a message spoken in the mind could be delivered instantaneously, whereas a message spoken by mouth took a few seconds, and that could be the difference between life and death in some situations. Toshiro emerged from his training sessions with Liliana with the ability to block basic mind probes from normal mind reading, though it was impossible to block Telepathic Magic, though since only Liliana and Shadow were capable of Telepathic magic, they gave him peace of mind in telling him that they would only use their superior mind power on him if the situation called for it, such as the need to communicate silently in battle.

During the last day of the preparation week, after everyone gathered for breakfast, Kye gave an order for everyone to relax for the day since the simulation was set to start the next day. After the hardcore training he had gone through, he took a deep breath, leaned back, and decided to take it easy.

* * *

"Whew!" he said while lying on a beach chair at the beach south of the base. He grew curious about what it was like to go to the beach as a woman, so he asked the Goddess Kye to transform him female again for the day. She provided him with a black bikini.

Kaylie was laying on a beach chair to his right in a dark green bikini, and Layla was to his left in a dark blue bikini, also laying on a beach chair.

"So Toshiro," Kaylie said, "how do you like it?"

"What are you referring to, exactly?"

"Laying out here in the sun as a girl. Listening to the water crash lightly against the shore."

"Well... It's a real whirl. It's definitely not a bore."

"Haha, nice rhyming there."

"I must say, this body is very sensitive. Is that because it's new or what?"

"Nope," Layla answered. "The female body is far more sensitive than the male body."

"That gives me an idea," Toshiro said. "I've had sex as a man plenty of times, and your dear mother got me drilled by a man copy of myself while I was a woman the other day, but I wonder what it's like to have sex with a girl as a girl."

"You could always ask Sanya and Eila," Kaylie suggested.

"What about you two? Kaylie, you mentioned the other day..."

"Kaylie..." Layla rose up and glared at her sister.

"What?" she said nonchalantly.

"You damn well know what. Are you trying to volunteer the both of us in a threesome again?"

"Hey, that last time was your idea."

"Whatever," Layla pouted. She turned to Toshiro. "Sorry, bucko, but we're not lesbian."

"But you two could be considered bi, right?" Toshiro asked. "And possibly incestuous?"

"No on the first and definitely not on the second," Kaylie said.

"We have rules when we have a threesome," Layla explained. "Kaylie and I never kiss, we never touch our mouths to any part of each other, and we never touch each other down there."

"You don't even suck each other's tits?" Toshiro asked honestly.

"Never!" Kaylie said adamantly. She turned toward him and gave him a wry smile, something Layla did not miss. "But trust me, we're good at what we do."

"So if I was to have your dear old mother turn me back to a man, we could get it on right now?"

"What makes you think I would go for it?" Layla asked.

"'Cause I'm big?" Toshiro asked with a straight face.

Layla just smirked and laid back down on her back. "Funny. You'll have to do better than that if you want in my pants."

"To be honest, Toshiro, if you are serious about having a threesome with us, you're not going to convince either of us very easily."

"But you... In my room the other day..."

"I'm a good tease, right?"

"You gave me a boner."

"Would you like me to take care of that?"

"Nah, I want Layla to take care of that."

"Even though you don't have a dick right now?" Layla added.

"Touché."

"I'm curious, Toshiro. Do conversations with you always turn sexual?" Layla asked.

"Eh, only most of the time."

* * *

Roughly an hour later, the Goddess Kye appeared in front of Toshiro, Kaylie, and Layla, clad in a dark purple bikini of her own.

"Do you have to just poof like that?"

She shrugged.

"You can't just..." Toshiro started

"Appear somewhere else and walk over?" Kye spoke in tandem with him. She giggled before answering him. "That's no fun."

"So what's up? You here to _de-vag_ me?"

"Nah, you can stay a girl for the whole day." Kye snapped her fingers. "Though if you want to be a man again, just pleasure yourself."

"You mean...?"

Kye held up two of her fingers. "Sure. If nothing else, you'll wake up tomorrow as a man... Unless you want to participate in the simulation as a female. It's up to you. I'll let you have the same power either way."

"Hmm," Toshiro mused. "I'll have to think about that one."

"So anyway, you three, come." She gestured at them to come toward her, but instead of waiting for them to get up and move, she just teleported all of them to the north side of the base, still in their swimwear.

Lucchini saw the female Toshiro in the black bikini appear in front of everyone and immediately charged. "Toshiko!"

Toshiro found himself with a pair of grabby hands glued to his chest, which was only protected by the thin layer of fabric that comprised his bikini top. "Gods dammit! Francesca!"

"Heehee! Weeeee!" She squealed.

Toshiro diluted time and pulled a reversal on Lucchini before resuming time. Instead of the expected reaction, Lucchini just stood proud with Toshiro's hands on her breasts.

"The best!"

_ Really...?_

Toshiro sighed and released her.

"If you're done..." the Goddess Kye said.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Alright." The Goddess floated into the air as an intense aura of rainbow energy suddenly flared from her body. She held her hands outward and up slightly. As she did, a thin pillar of rainbow energy appeared roughly one hundred kilometers behind her to the north and rose high into the sky. From the top of the pillar, the rainbow energy extended outward, effectively creating a spherical ceiling over the entire planet. A wall of rainbow energy shot outward from the pillar and encircled the entire base, creating a circle with a two hundred kilometer diameter. Soon, nothing could be seen past the wall or above the ceiling.

"When this veil of True Zen Energy falls, this planet will have been remade to be the same size as Earth. A moon will now also light the night sky. On this planet there will be two continents. The one you are standing on now will be initially controlled by your faction. You may name your faction whatever you wish if you feel you need it named. The Neuroi will control the other continent, which is located on the opposite side of the world. The atmosphere is the same as Earth's.

"The goal of this simulation is complete domination. The simulated war will not end until one faction controls the entire planet. The simulation does not have a time limit. You can end it in an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, and so on. You could even take a million years to fight this war. You will not age while this simulation is taking place. If you die in this simulation you will be removed and placed in a viewing center. You will not be returned to Earth until the simulation is over. When the simulation ends, you will be returned to Earth on the same day you left, albeit at the end of the day at sundown. Anyone who joined us after the initial trip here was pulled from Earth on April 5th. If you want to know how I'm doing this, I'm the Goddess of the Seven Stars. I can do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want, and however I want.

"Also when the True Zen Energy veil is lifted, you will find that your speed capabilities are reduced. You will find that the SFS Mark 2 and SFS Mark 3 Prototype will only increase your speed by up to two times. Some of you are capable of flying upwards of Mach 4 unassisted by technology, so you will find your maximum will be Mach 8. The reason for this is because I don't give a fuck. Flying at Mach 50 is overkill." The Goddess shot her mortal incarnation a glance with a raised eyebrow. "And because circumnavigating the globe isn't the point of this simulation. This limit is only effective during the simulation. You speed freaks can have all the fun you want flying at Mach Over 9000 when you go home."

"Over 9000?" several people wondered out loud.

"You're better off not knowing what that means..." the Goddess said. "Anyway, the Neuroi will be present on their continent as soon as the veil is lifted, though they will not be hostile until tomorrow at twelve hundred hours. If you jump the gun and fly over there ahead of time, they won't take too kindly to your presence. Just in case you didn't pick up on the hint I gave you, be stealthy if you decide to do some recon. I would ask if anyone had questions, but I'm omniscient and already know most of you don't. Only Toshiro has one… Two actually, so have at it."

"Yeah, actually," Toshiro said. "First, can you bring Amaterasu here? I need to talk to her."

Kye opened a portal and gestured into it. Amaterasu stepped out. "I'll stop time for you two, so take as long as you need."

The world lost its color, only the Goddess Kye, Amaterasu, and Toshiro retaining their color.

"Amaterasu, in this world, I need to know the situation with the god particle."

"You will not be able to use it while in this world, regardless of the six month in between timer," she said. "With your temporary power-up, you also don't need it."

"Simple and to the point. That was quick," Toshiro said.

Amaterasu turned to the Goddess Kye. "Must you keep turning him into a female?"

"You don't like Toshiko?"

Amaterasu sighed. "He does look nice..."

"Ami, you know... He does want to have sex with a god," the Goddess teased her. "If you like your _Chosen One_ so much, why don't you get a little intimate? You can even choose his gender!"

Amaterasu only gave her a look of annoyance.

"You're no fun. Toshiro, good luck! Oh, and when you make up your mind about what gender you want to be during the simulation, just think my name real loud and I'll... Well you know the drill."

"Yeah. Bye, Kye. Bye, Amaterasu… Wait, Kye, second question!"

"You'll get your emblem, don't worry. Let's say it's a little token of appreciation." She winked.

The two waved just before vanishing. Color returned to the world and the rainbow energy veil slowly disappeared.

Toshiro cracked his fingers and looked to the mortal Kye. The two bumped fists and spoke in unison. "Time to kick ass."


	10. Chapter 10: Down to Business

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 10: Down to Business**

* * *

**-April 11th, 1953-**

Toshiro pondered the idea of participating in the simulation as a woman, but couldn't convince himself to do it. He considered using the self pleasure route mentioned by the Goddess Kye, but couldn't convince himself to do that either, so he just asked her to change him back.

After a lengthy discussion on how to proceed with the start of the simulation, the mortal Kye and Toshiro decided on a special reconnaissance mission after dark, scheduled for 2300 hours.

When the time rolled around, Toshiro and Kye were met in the hangar by Minna, Sanya, and Shadow.

"Minna and Sanya will be using their Area Analysis and Magic Antennae for recon purposes," Kye explained. "Shadow will be using her absolute stealth Shadow Magic to keep us concealed. Toshiro and I will be coming to get a live look alongside you.

"Roger." the other four responded.

They swiftly changed into their SFS Mark 2s and took to the air. After getting airborne, Toshiro was pleasantly surprised when Kye pointed out that his family crest was on his chest, just as was promised by the Goddess Kye.

He grinned vividly for a moment before turning his mind back to the mission. "Which way?"

Kye shrugged and just took off to the east with the recon team soon following her.

"If you don't know which way to go, why just take off like that?"

"My Goddess self said that the two continents are on opposite sides of the planet. If we fly in one direction long enough, we'll get there."

"Your logic is infallible."

"Right?" Kye gave him a wry smile. "Let's kick up the speed and stay at a fairly low altitude while flying over the sea. When we find land, we'll go up to about twenty seven kilometers and start doing recon."

"What speed should we increase to?" Minna asked.

"All five of us should be able to fly at Mach 6 comfortably. If we can manage that, we should be fine."

"Alright."

Everyone kicked their speeds up to Mach 6. They were over the sea in about twenty minutes, and came up on land in another hour and a half. Kye gestured at them to climb to a high altitude, and as soon as they reached the target altitude she gave her instructions.

"Alright, Minna and Sanya will start the recon. To stay hidden, we need to fly together inside Shadow's stealth bubble. While inside, nothing outside will be able to detect our existence. We'll be invisible and intangible."

"That's some hardcore stealth magic," Toshiro added.

"She's the only one in this universe with that capability, even among the gods."

"Even your godly self?"

"That's another story."

"Yeah, yeah, let's get on with this recon already."

Shadow formed a magic bubble large enough to cover everyone with some extra space.

_ Whoa... I know she showed me this once already but damn this is weird. It's like looking at the world in grayscale._

As they passed over the land, they saw a large Neuroi hive in the distance. As they approached, they veered off to the right and saw the top of an even bigger hive to the south east, though it was protected by some sort of barrier. Everyone took note of the colossal sized Neuroi Carriers floating around the hive, and the fact that they were orange and black instead of red and black.

"This is different," Kye said. "It looks like the corner of that barrier is linked to this hive. Sanya, can you tell how tall the barrier is?"

"It's about three hundred kilometers tall, and it goes into the ground fifty kilometers."

"Probably a rectangular prism shaped barrier. Let's head south and see what we find at the south west corner, assuming there's something to find."

"Assuming?" Toshiro asked.

"In the alternate future, the Neuroi Base near Fuso had a barrier protecting itself. It had four pylons, one at each corner. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd wager this is similar."

"Alright."

The group took off toward the south and came up on a large inland sea about fifteen minutes later. Everyone looked around, but there was no hive in sight, despite finding the corner of the giant barrier.

Minna detected Neuroi shaped like ships floating on the top of the water. "Hmm..." She focused harder and found some submerged Neuroi. "Sanya, use your antennas and look underwater."

Sanya gasped as soon as she found what Minna asked her to look for. "It's... It's an underwater base!"

"I don't suppose you girls brought bikinis with you?" Toshiro sighed.

"That's going to be a pain in the ass to handle, but at least we know what's at this corner now. We're going to have a naval battle on our hands," Kye said. "Let's go east and find the next corner."

Without another word, the rest of the group nodded and continued east until they came upon a hive roughly twenty minutes later. Two colossal Neuroi Carriers were orbiting the hive, just like the northwest hive.

"This looks straightforward," Kye said. "Minna, Sanya, any _surprises_ with this hive?"

"It doesn't look like it," Minna said after deactivating her magic.

"I'm not detecting anything unusual," Sanya added.

"It's just a hive then," Kye said. "We'll come at it with the usual anti-hive methods. Let's keep moving. We have one more corner to check out."

The group proceeded north and found the final corner with a Neuroi Base floating in the water roughly fifty kilometers offshore. Upon closer inspection, Kye deducted that it was similar to the Neuroi Base in Fuso.

"So we have two hives, two bases, and a bigger hive in the middle. There's a barrier around the middle hive and it seems to be linked to the outer hives and bases," Kye deducted. "I also noticed a few Neuroi Fortresses."

"Fortresses are smaller than the bases, right?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes."

"There were eight fortresses in total," Minna said. "Two per corner."

"Do you have a rough estimate on the numbers we'll be facing?" Kye asked.

"Yes," Sanya answered. "Including the Neuroi I sensed inside the barrier, but not including the colossal size Neuroi at each location..."

"Each location?"

"I sensed Neuroi signatures similar to the colossal carriers at the underwater base, just like I am here. They were underwater there and are also underwater here. I suspect they are naval variants of the Neuroi Carriers."

"I see. Continue, but include everything."

"Okay. I sensed forty two signatures at Class Ten, and one beyond even that. At Class Nine and below, I sensed a total of one hundred and thirty thousand."

_ Holy..._

For once, Kye looked genuinely shocked. "That's more than the First, Second, and the alternate future Third Neuroi War combined! My godly self is really putting us to the test. No wonder she brought so many of us here."

"I think we're in for a long war," Toshiro sighed. "Looks like I'm stuck here for a while."

"Not necessarily. Regardless of their numbers, with proper strategy, we can win this in a decent time frame. If we hit it hard, we can probably get this over with in a month."

"That's still a long time."

"Yeah," Kye said. "Let's head back to base. If we fly east from here, we should come up on our continent again."

"We're basically circling the planet." Toshiro added.

"Basically."

* * *

**-April 12th, 1953-**

At 0800 hours the next morning, Kye and Toshiro met up in the war room with Minna and Sanya to discuss their findings in the recon mission in detail, despite only getting a few hours of sleep after returning from the mission.

Kye didn't have to explain to him much about the insides of the hives or bases since he had already been shown her memories of her firsthand experience in the past battles of from 1934 to 1945 and the alternate future in 2012, so she skipped that part and just went straight into possible strategies.

"The hive cores will definitely be protected by powerful barriers. The two hives outside of the barrier are what you know as Alpha Hives. They are called Super Hives in this world. However, the Alpha Hive that you encounter in Venezia and the Super Hives that I've encountered in my world throughout the years pale in comparison to these in the simulation. We won't be able to penetrate them from the outside very easily."

"So then we should do what you did in the alternate future? Send a small team inside and task them to find and destroy the hive core?"

"Yes. We'll need to pick our Core Team carefully. At least one Miyafuji witch or wizard experienced with all types of enhanced shields will be necessary for defense inside. We'll want two close combat specialists and two long range specialists. Some of our people are highly proficient with both, such as Perrine and Louise."

Toshiro hadn't taken his eyes off the map of the Neuroi Continent that Minna and Sanya drew up for them. "Look here at the southeast. There's a hive and two forts there, and a lot of open space. What would it take to set up a base... here?" He pointed between the Neuroi Hive to the southeast and the Neuroi Base to the northeast.

"We could capture a fair bit of land in that area and hold it. Layla could use her Creation Magic to build a working forward base. We'll need to establish a front like that if we want to be efficient in this war."

"Hmm... If we set up a crude forward base here..." He pointed at a spot closer to the southeast hive. "And quickly dispatch that hive, then we'll have plenty of land to build a proper base and organize patrols to maintain a secure border."

"You're thinking right up my alley," Kye agreed. "It'd take Layla a few days by herself, but she could build a proper base for us. It'd be easier on her if some of us let her siphon magic power from us. I think we have a solid plan."

Toshiro nodded.

"What do you say to setting up a forward base today before the Neuroi start their own offensive, and destroying the Neuroi Fortress located here?" She pointed at the fort located a few hundred kilometers north of the southeast hive."

"Yeah, that's good."

Kye shot him a sly glance. "You have a poor poker face."

"That easy?"

"I can see the excitement on your face. What happened to getting upset about this whole situation?"

"One of your redhead daughters told me something that changed my opinion of it."

"That and your little power up is too good to pass up?"

"Guilty as charged."

Kye laughed. "You'll have fun in that case."

"Either way, I still don't want to be here forever. I need to get back home."

"You will," Kye said confidently. "Care to join me for breakfast? It's served until 0830, so we still have fifteen minutes to get our plates."

"Yeah, food sounds good."

* * *

At 0900 hours, Kye and Toshiro called a meeting in the briefing room to discuss their strategies and tactics with the commanders of the various teams. That included Minna, Mio, Xala, Xale, Xiani, Lily, Fumika, Adolfine, Yami, Bell, Valterri, Rose, Lion, Ally, Yusu, Louise, Zen, Yuko, Ren, Hairi, and Katsu.

After going over the plan of action, the various commanders split off and went to brief their individual teams. By 1100 hours, everyone was rearing to go. The Karlsland Contingent, the Red and Green teams of the Neuri Tribe Contingent, 511th European Team, 511th Fuso Team, 516th B Team, the 516th Leaders, and the Light Kingdom contingent stayed behind to protect the base, leaving the 501st, Neuri Blue Team, Fuso Contingent, 511th Liberion Team, and 516th A Team, and 516th C Team to establish the front.

The only member of the Light Kingdom Contingent that was assigned on the mission was Shadow due to her unique stealth magic being invaluable for infiltrating the target Neuroi Fortress. Since Kamiko wasn't a proper member of any team, she was assigned to the 501st for the duration of the simulation and paired with Rei.

Everyone met up in the hangar, though with the larger amount of people, not everyone was comfortable changing in front of the opposite sex and the changing rooms weren't big enough to hold everyone, so Kye shut the hangar and let only one gender in the side door at a time.

After changing into their SFS Mark 2s, everyone grabbed their weapons. Most took a single gun and their melee weapon. Toshiro picked his MG 151 since most of the Neuroi they would encounter were smaller types easily dispatched with spray and pray methods. Most of the others used a newer model of the same gun, though the Fusojins chose a newer model of the Type 99.

Once they were loaded up and ready, everyone stood on the runway, waiting for the order to take off. Kye told everyone to go ahead and take off without her.

"I need to speak with Bell and Yusu before I leave. Minna and Toshiro can lead you to the destination. I'll catch up."

Upon taking off, Minna and Toshiro agreed on Mach 5 and ordered everyone maintain that speed while they led the group across the ocean. Flying at Mach 5 over a distance of about six thousand kilometers, the group took roughly an hour and a half to reach land. Kye ended up catching up about halfway across the ocean.

* * *

"Okay, who is infiltrating that... Neuroi cube looking thing?" Toshiro asked.

"Seriously?" Kye said with a laugh. ""Neuroi cube looking thing?" is all you could come up with?"

"What would you call it?"

"Ugly."

Xala laughed. "Don't let Xale hear you say that. The forts were his idea."

"Xala are you going to be okay?" Kye asked.

"Why do you ask?"

"It's just, I know you haven't been in real combat as a human before."

"My powers work the same now as they did when I was still a Neuroi," Xala explained. "I am capable of everything I was back then, and more. My human body is much more... Manageable. I very much like the human muscular system. The more I work it, the stronger they become!"

"You grew in strength a lot in the alternate future, too."

"That was solely a growth in my energy powers. If I had this body back then, I would have grown much more! In this past year while sparring with Xiani, I have learned much. I would even daresay that I could fight three times as efficiently now."

"That's good. We'll have to spar sometime, too. I want to see just how much you've advanced."

"I bet I could surprise you," Xala said. "And by the way, why didn't you tell me about sex sooner?"

"Eh?"

That caught even Toshiro's attention.

"I thought..."

"Of course I knew about it, but the sensation of actually... Doing it... My first time was invigorating!"

"Heh. I bet. First times are always... Something else." Kye tried to veer away from the topic.

"Oh yes, and I learned this method where you climb on top and..."

"Xala, we really should focus on the mission, yes?"

Xala blushed before realizing how much she got carried away. "I apologize. Oh, look! They are coming out from under the ground!"

Xala pointed toward the fortress. Rising up from underground were several turtle Neuroi, some a few times larger than others. Flying Neuroi started pouring out of the top of the fortress. Among the flying Neuroi were several large and super-large types.

"They are orange like Xale was in the alternate future," Xala said.

"Where's your gun?" Toshiro asked. "I think you'll need it."

Xala smirked. "I don't need such things! Kye, do you want to know how much I've advanced?"

"Show me."

Xala pointed her finger toward one of the super-large flying Neuroi. In front of her finger formed a ball of blue energy with static emitting from it. As the ball grew, she opened her hand, now holding her palm outward before firing an immense beam. She completely disintegrated her target.

Kye whistled. "That was pretty damn good. I hope that's not your only new trick."

Toshiro watched Xala for a moment and couldn't help but think,_ a Neuroi reverted back to human form is crazy about sex... Yeah... This world is... Uh... But if she liked it so much, then maybe..._

Xala formed a sword out of her energy. "Of course not. I've mastered all of your blade spells as well."

"Good." Kye's expression turned serious as she started speaking to the group as a whole. "It's been a while since we've had a real battle, so do not underestimate the enemy. This fort is just like the ones we destroyed in Karlsland in the alternate future. We need an infiltration team to target the main core. I want Minna to lead that team, accompanied by Trude, Erica, Perrine, and Shadow. You five, go now. Go under Shadow's stealth powers. The rest of us will above the surface."

"Let's go, ladies." Minna ordered just before the rest of the newly formed infiltration team grouped up near her and disappeared under Shadow's power.

"The rest of us..." Kye pulled her Type 99 from her back and charged forward.

"_Now this is more like it._"

"_You sure have changed since getting your power up._"

"_I just want to enjoy it while I have it, Yuki._"

"_You better get your fill, then._"

Toshiro readied his MG 151 and charged into fray.

* * *

The witches and wizards scattered across the battle field, pelting the Neuroi with a shower of lead. Smaller Neuroi fell by the tens to the bullet barrage, medium sized Neuroi were taken down by two witches at a time using flanking tactics, and large types were quickly dispatched using simple blade spells.

Every so often, a thundering boom could be heard, signifying that Lynne had fired the Shockwave Rifle. Each time she fire, a Super-Large type vanished from radar. When she hit a multi-core variant, she didn't destroy it in one go, but Mio quickly finished them off for her.

"_Yuki, I think we just crossed a threshold. I expected them to be powerful, but Lynnie is taking out those giant Neuroi like they're nothing!_"

"_I have to admit that I'm surprised and impressed as well. Mind your ammo supply, you're burning through it rapidly._"

"_It's hard not to with the sheer number of Neuroi out here._"

Out of the corner of his eye, Toshiro saw Rei launching Reppuzan after Reppuzan from both of her swords.

"_I think she's confused her swords with guns. She's firing those things like the fourth of July._"

"_Yeah, and she's getting a lot of attention from the enemy! I'm counting ten large Neuroi approaching her location! Toshiro!_"

"_Yeah, I'm the closest._"

He started to fly over to help her, but heard her speak a phrase that made him think twice.

"**Spinning Dragon,**" Rei said quietly as she started spinning. Several blasts of magic energy launched out from her blades as she spun in circles, each tearing through the large type Neuroi that were surrounding her. After ten seconds, nothing was left of the enemy within a kilometer of her location.

"_She taught me that technique, but I didn't think it would be that effective._"

"_I think we need to stop underestimating these people._"

"_That means I'm underestimating myself, since I was powered up to their level. I'm out of ammo anyway, so time for a little fun with Aganaimaru._"

Toshiro flipped his gun on his back and summoned Aganaimaru. He grinned as he found his first target. "**Reppuzan!**"

The large type Neuroi below in his sights shattered into the usual white flakes. Below the flakes, he saw two witches repeatedly using an advanced form of the Unyou on the various turtle Neuroi.

_ That must be Ayaka Kuroe. And that other one is wearing a 516th uniform._

"How's that, Granny?" Katsu smirked at her great grandmother, Ayaka. "I'm at five big turtles and fifteen small turtles."

"Not bad for a little girl, but I'm at seven and twenty two," Ayaka shot back. "Don't forget I invented the Unyou."

Katsu merely returned to attacking the turtle Neuroi without losing her smirk.

Toshiro turned his attention back to the skies and found a nearby super-large type Neuroi. He started to launch an attack, but it exploded into white flakes, revealing a silver aura clad Kye on the other side. She shot Toshiro a victory sign before moving on to her next target.

"Damn it, Kye, that one was mine!"

"Didn't see your name on it."

Toshiro grinned as he chased after Kye. He cut her off before she could attack the next Neuroi and carved his name in it using Aganaimaru.

"Oh, you want to play games, do you?" she said. She formed a small ball of silver energy and threw it at the Neuroi. Upon contact, the silver ball exploded violently, throwing Toshiro back over one hundred meters even with his shield protecting him.

"Hey! What the fuck was that about?"

She just winked at him and moved on to another target.

_ Well that was an unexpected reaction... Whatever._

Before Toshiro could move on to another target, the ground began to shake violently.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" a monstrous voice echoed through the sky.

"Earthquake?" he asked.

"No," Sanya answered. "Something big is coming!"

Suddenly, beyond the fortress on the far side, the ground erupted, throwing up dust and dirt that shrouded the thing that jumped out from underground.

"Above us!" Sanya pointed upward.

"Move away from the fort! Everyone!" Eila shouted.

Nobody disregarded Eila's warning. Less than five seconds after they cleared out, a gargantuan turtle Neuroi landed over the top of the base, shadowing it completely from the sun. Each leg was easily over a kilometer long, and its body was much larger than the fortress it stood over.

"Sanya, is that one of the high power Neuroi you detected in our recon mission?" Kye asked.

"Yes, although I couldn't detect the size. I didn't believe it would be so big."

"Yoshika, Rei, Toshiro, Mio, to me!" Kye ordered. "Mio, find its core."

Mio activated her Magic Eye and gasped as soon as she looked through the gargantuan Neuroi.

"It... It has ten cores!"

"Ten?!"

"One in each leg, and they are moving up and down the leg, and six throughout the body. One core is larger than the rest."

Just as Mio finished her analysis, the Turtle launched several hundred beams in all directions. Yoshika, Rei, and Kye managed to erect fifty reflection shield each, and rebounded several of the beams, but countless more fired again.

"_Gods damn_ this thing has a hard on for beams!" Toshiro said.

"No kidding," Mio added.

The gargantuan turtle suddenly stopped firing beams, and a powerful humanoid Neuroi could be seen floating down from the top of the turtle.

"It's a good thing humanoid Neuroi are small so that their core is easy to find without help of a magic eye," Mio said.

"Why do you say that? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, I can't see its core with my eye."

"I have been tasked by Supreme Commander Mavet to destroy all who exist on this planet," the humanoid Neuroi spoke. "I am Commander Makon. My pet here will ensure your destruction, but to anyone who believes they can best me in combat, feel free to come at me."

"Kye, I will fight Makon," Xala said.

"Go for it, but don't get yourself killed. If you need backup..."

"I know," Xala said as she charged in toward Makon.

"Ah, one who was once a Neuroi and has taken up arms on the human's behalf has decided to fight me," Makon said, forming a blade

"The Neuroi on Earth were merely Neuri Tribe Humans who were affected by the Neuroi Curse," Xala countered. "You, however, are a Neuroi through and through. I will show no mercy." Xala's body was suddenly engulfed by a powerful aura of blue energy just before she clashed with Makon.

"While she's fighting him, we need to focus on this... Mountain," Mio said. The enormous turtle started firing beams all over the place again, but the group was protected by a powerful massive shield erected by Yoshika. "Call it, Kye!"

Kye took a deep breath before passing out her plan. "We have Yoshika, Rei, Toshiro, Mio, and me here. Fuso Contingent members and 516th A Team, come to me. Everyone else not mentioned, keep the small fries off us!"

"Roger!" Everyone resounded.

"Alright, what we need here is a massive offense. Yoshika, Rei, and I will play defense. We'll use our enhanced shields to protect the rest of you."

"Roger."

"Ren, Aira, Aero, you three have the strongest combination attacks. Use your Black Fire and Dark Wind combination techniques and focus on the front of the main body. I want to see a hole burned through this thing."

"Roger."

"Keiko, Takeko, Tomoko, I want you three on the back right leg. I want the core in that leg destroyed. Blow up the whole leg if you have to."

"Roger."

"Mio, Junko, Yoshiko, same thing, back left."

"Roger."

"Fumika, Tetsuko, same thing, front left."

"Roger."

"Ayaka, Toshiro, front right."

"Roger."

"Yoshika, you cover the teams in the back. Rei will cover the teams in the front. I'll keep Ren's team protected. Everyone, move out!"

"_She really knows how to command._"

"_She's been doing it for a long time. I'm not surprised._"

"_I'm not either, but it's still impressive._"

Before anyone could fly off, Ren opened up on the turtle's body with a stream of Black Fire magic. Aira and Aero both shot a stream of Dark Wind magic, which amplified Ren's Black Fire greatly.

_ I wonder if that would work on my Sacred Flame..._

Toshiro met up with Ayaka and followed her to their assigned leg.

"Toshiro, I don't suppose you have any tricks that can destroy the entire leg in one go, do you?"

"I could destroy a good part of it in one attack, but not the whole thing."

"What technique is it?"

"I can hit it with an explosive fireball with my Sacred Flame."

"Aim it about three quarters of the way up the leg," Ayaka said. "If you can blow the leg off the body at that point, I can shish kabob the rest of it."

"On it." Toshiro activated his Sacred Flame and pooled his magic into a ball of fire. He threw it at the designated spot and incinerated a third of the leg.

It started regenerating immediately, but Ayaka quickly flew in and used a powerful variant of the Unyou and attacked the dismembered leg from the top. She penetrated the top and continued flying downward, destroying the leg as she went.

"_A continuous output using the Unyou? That's incredible._"

"_That one did invent the Unyou, you know._"

"_I really need to expect more from these people. Every time I don't, I get surprised._"

As soon as Ayaka hit the core, the rest of the leg shattered. Toshiro glanced around and saw that the other legs also shattered. The body floated in place as a core shot out of the turtle's body where each leg was connected and reformed the legs.

"We've destroyed one core so far," Ren reported. "We're working our way toward the center, but this thing's body is tough. I just need another minute!"

"Do it," Kye said. "Everyone else, destroy the legs again. It's down five cores already. If you repeat the legs, it'll be down to only one."

Ayaka shot Toshiro an excited grin. "You up for another round?"

"Always." Toshiro smirked as he prepared his explosive fireball again. They destroyed the leg once again with the same method, just as everyone else managed to destroy their legs again. "Simple."

"Toshiro, incoming!" Xala warned.

Toshiro looked up and saw a blast of orange energy approaching rapidly. He threw up a shield and easily blocked it. "Thanks, Xala."

"Sorry about that! I'll end this soon!"

"Got it!" Ren shouted.

Toshiro turned back toward the gargantuan turtle just in time to see it explode into millions of white fragments.

"It's like snow."

No more than five second later, the fortress below them shattered into white fragments as well, taking out all the remaining Neuroi aside Commander Makon.

"I will not be defeated!" he shouted.

Xala poured an immense amount of energy into her blade and charged at him with a powerful thrust. He attempted to block it, but his blade was shattered under the force of Xala's attack. She penetrated Makon's chest and destroyed his core.

"Well done, but you will never defeat Lord Mavet," he managed to say before shattering into fragments.

"Whew!" Xala dispelled her energy sword and flew back down Kye, Toshiro, and company just as the infiltration group ascended from the large hole in the ground. She struggled to stay airborne, but was soon supported by Kye and Toshiro.

"I want to formally apologize to you, Xala," Toshiro said. "Even though you stated before that you are not an enemy, I still judged you as a Neuroi. I know now that you have the heart of a human."

Xala didn't know what to say.

Kye smiled at Toshiro. "Well said."

"Kye, let me," Toshiro said. "I'll carry her back."

"Th-thank you," Xala muttered.

"Don't forget that we're not going too far," Kye said. "We're setting up a forward camp near the shore. I'll radio my redhead twins and have them fly on over. Layla will make us a temporary setup. The ships will arrive late today, and after we destroy the other fort and the hive in this region, we can build a proper base."

"Copy that," Toshiro said.

Within the next hour, Kaylie and Layla arrived, and Layla used her Creation Magic to spawn a few small buildings with bunks inside. She then spawned two additional buildings, one with toilets and showers, and one for food service. After that, she spawned one more building to serve as a hangar. The setup was more than satisfactory for a temporary camp.

After finishing her work, Layla collapsed into one of the bunks and immediately drifted off to sleep.

"She used up almost all of her magic building this little camp," Kye said. "Her Creation Magic is very versatile, but continuously using it drains her quickly."

"She deserves to rest after that," Toshiro replied. "I wouldn't even call this a temporary setup, honestly. With a few modifications, this could be a proper base."

"We might end up making it as such. We're at the shore, so we can easily build a dock for the ships and go to the beach."

"The beach is always fun," Toshiro grinned.

Yoshika caught his grin. "You just want to see everyone in a bikini!"

"Guilty as charged."

"Then let's go take a dip."

"But all we have are the SFS Mark 2s."

"I have a hunch that the lockers in the hangar have some clothing," Kaylie said. "Layla loves the beach, so I imagine that includes swimwear."

"Well then, to the beach!"

"I support that," Kye said. "We could all use a dip after that battle."


	11. Chapter 11: Jogging in the Canyon

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 11: Jogging in the Canyon**

**Chapter Quote: "Right, I was driving to the canyon, where I'm going to jog."**

* * *

**-April 15th, 1953-**

_We destroyed the first fortress on the 12th, rested on the 13th, destroyed the second fortress on the 14th, and now we're resting again today. As much I want to get this done, I have to agree taking a day off in between operations is a good idea._

Toshiro opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling for a whole second before finding a note hanging down on a string. It was just within arm's reach, so he grabbed it and read.

"Toshiro, please come wake Layla and I before you go jogging. We want to run with you. We are on the second floor in the third room on the left from the stairs. Awesomely, Kaylie."

_ "Awesomely? Can you even sign a letter like that?"_

_ "Apparently so."_

_ "Never a dull moment with those two."_

Toshiro sighed and stared at the ceiling again.

_ Layla basically made a recreation of the other base, so everyone has the same rooms over here. I should probably take a look around and see what rooms belong to everyone._

_ "Yuki, what's the time?"_

_ "Zero six on the dot."_

_ "On the dot?"_

_ "As of the exact moment you asked, it was straight up on the hour with zero seconds and milliseconds."_

_ "How 'bout that?"_

Toshiro got out of bed and changed into his old Imperial Fuso Navy uniform before heading down to get the girls.

When he arrived at the door in the instructions, he quietly opened the door and peeked in to make sure it was the right room. He could see the bed from the door.

_ She didn't say they were sleeping with Rei... Well, whatever. She said to get them up._

Toshiro walked into the room and approached the bed. He started to kick it, but another voice called him off.

"You probably shouldn't wake them like that."

Toshiro turned and found Kamiko sitting in a corner not visible from the door. She was holding a book.

"Kamiko, right?"

"Hai. (Yes)." She closed the book, stood up, and set it in her chair. "For my mother and aunts, it's better to do this..." She walked over to the curtains and flung them open, allowing the morning sun to penetrate the room.

_ Since it's so early, the sun is shining directly into the room. Nice, Kamiko._

Her efforts were for naught, however. Kaylie didn't move an inch since she was facing away from the window, Rei was sleeping upside down, and Layla just mumbled something unintelligible in her sleep before flinging her arm up and turning the window into a solid wall without even waking up.

_ Well, it was a good idea in theory, but the room is pitch black now._

A ball of golden light suddenly appeared in Kamiko's hand and gave the room a dim illumination. She waved her hand at Toshiro, gesturing him to move away from the bed. He just raised an eyebrow and stood back.

Kamiko kicked the mattress clear off the bed, causing the sleeping inhabitants to tumble into the floor with the mattress falling over on top of them. "Jigoku o samasu! (Wake the hell up!)"

Rei stood up with a blank expression, walked around the bed, and started rummaging through her bag. Kaylie and Layla looked around slightly confused until they saw Toshiro standing nearby.

"Oh, hey. Is it morning already?" Layla asked.

"Why the hell is it so dark in here?" Kaylie added.

Toshiro summoned Aganaimaru and carved a hole into the wall where the window had been.

"Oh, that's probably my bad." Layla flicked her hand and turned the wall back into a window.

"Much better," Rei said. She pulled a bar of soap out of her bag and gestured at Kamiko.

"Eh?" the green battle kimono clad girl gasped. "You're kidding."

Rei snapped her fingers at Layla, who conjured a leather belt in response.

"No way!"

_ Is she serious?_

Rei folded the belt in two and popped it.

"Uh... You won't follow me outside in your night gown!" Kamiko jumped through the window and took off toward the base.

"The hell?" Toshiro mumbled.

Layla laughed. "Hehe, if little Kamiko thinks that'll stop Big Sis, then she's got another thing comin'."

Rei glared at Layla.

"Okay, okay." Layla transformed Rei's clothing into that of her black battle kimono. Rei then jumped out of the window and began her pursuit.

Toshiro glanced back at Kaylie and Layla. "So... I don't want to miss this..."

"You really don't," Kaylie said. She and Layla jumped up and were out the window in a second with their night gowns changing into their battle kimonos on the way out. Toshiro followed right behind them.

* * *

By the time Toshiro and the twins caught up to Kamiko and Rei, one was hiding behind Kye and the other was glaring profusely with the belt in hand. Kye had a very annoyed look about her face.

She sighed and asked, "What are you two doing?"

"Hand her over," Rei demanded.

"Why?"

"Bad language. Bad girl needs discipline."

"What bad language?"

"Hell."

Kye moved to the side, but Kamiko quickly moved with her. "Kamiko."

"Baa-san! (Grandmother!)" she cried.

Kye shook her head.

Rei held the bar of soap in one hand and the belt in the other. Kamiko came out from behind Kye and pointed at the bar of soap. As she did, Rei tossed the belt aside and shoved the bar of soap into Kamiko's mouth.

"A dirty mouth needs cleaning," Rei said.

When she finished, Rei pulled the bar from Kamiko's mouth, leaving the teary eyed, younger girl to cough and spit the rest out. "Kaa-san! (Mother!)"

Kye then held her hand out to Rei and gestured for the bar of soap.

Rei raised her eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"Your turn."

_ HA!_

"Eh?" Rei started to look worried.

"You've been cursing an awful lot lately. A good mother must be a role model to her daughter."

"I'm an adult! I can curse all I want!"

"Not until September. You're still a minor, my seventeen year old daughter."

"I've had a child and you still say I'm a minor?"

Kye nodded. "The phrase "Don't dish it out if you can't take it." also comes to mind."

Rei pouted. "Fine."

"Hehe." Kamiko giggled.

Kye took the bar of soap and gave Rei the same punishment Kamiko had just received. She then tossed the bar of soap back to Rei. "Now both of you act your ages. I don't give a shit what language either of you uses."

The immortal Kye suddenly appeared and added to her mortal self's statement. "And all if it was over a simple wake up message. "Wake the hell up." it was."

The mortal Kye looked at Rei with an annoyed glare. "Seriously?"

Rei refused to say a word.

"Whatever. Just go do something productive and stop acting like children." Kye turned around and started to walk off.

"One second, mortal me. Doran wants a dinner date with you. He's at the town on the other side of the world."

"Oh he is?"

"Mhm. You better go."

"Alright."

The immortal Kye vanished and the mortal Kye flew off toward the hangar.

_ Well then._

"So, Toshiro. Jogging time?" Kaylie asked.

"Yeah. I assume you scouted out a good place?"

"There's a good canyon to jog in not far from here. We can probably jog there and back in two hours at our pace."

"Lead the way."

"Sis, you coming?" Kaylie asked Rei.

"I suppose." Rei turned to Kamiko.

"Hai. (Yes.)"

"Off we go!" Kaylie cheered.

* * *

The group of five ran northwest from the base for a short while before arriving at the canyon. The canyon was very large, spanning many kilometers in every direction, though from inside, it looked more like a miniature mountain range.

"So Toshiro, how do you like having jogging partners that can manage at this intensity?"

"We are running a lot faster than my usual pace," Toshiro said. "This is awesome."

Kaylie gave him the victory sigh. "Damn right."

Toshiro couldn't help but stray his eyes to his companions' chests every time one of them spoke to him. Rei and Kamiko were both a bit shorter than Kaylie and Layla, and their breasts respectively smaller.

"Toshiro, I don't mind you glaring at my breasts, but try to refrain from using my daughter as eye candy," Rei said.

"Can't help it. The two of you have fine bodies. I have to admire them."

"Fair enough compliment, but it still feels weird."

Suddenly, all of their outfits morphed into bikinis, aside Toshiro's.

"Well then..." He mumbled.

"What?" Rei gasped.

He pointed at her. Her face reddened as soon as she realized what she was now wearing. She glanced around and saw that her sisters and daughter were also clad in bikinis.

"Layla!"

"Haha, Big Sis, you made that too easy."

"If you want to prank somebody, prank your twin."

No more than a half second after Rei said that, Kaylie ran straight into a newly formed door-shaped steel wall.

She fell backward and held her hand to her nose. "God dammit, Layla! That fuckin' hurt!" Kaylie summoned Dailadon in staff form, teleported in front of Layla, and smacked her across the face, knocking her back several feet in the process.

Kamiko just sighed and stepped away from the twins with Rei and Toshiro. The group had stopped at the edge of a cliff overlooking a large part of the canyon. It extended several kilometers back. A lush green forest could be seen beyond the canyon's far edge from there.

"Kirei! (Pretty!)" Kamiko gasped as she ran up to the edge. "Kaa-san! Kaa-san! Sore wa utsukushīdesu! (Mother! Mother! It is beautiful!)"

"Hai, (Yes,)" Rei said. "Chūi shite kudasai. (Be careful.)"

"Watashi ga ochiru koto wa arimasen. (I won't fall.)"

Rei turned away and left Kamiko to admire the scenery. The twins were still going at it.

"I wish Layla would have changed us back into our normal outfits first."

"Don't like bikinis?"

"I like them. I just prefer to wear them at appropriate places. A canyon doesn't exactly fit that."

"Yeah," Toshiro said as he watched a ball of destruction magic erase a small rock formation to the side. "Heh, they really got fired up."

Rei sighed. "Just once I wish I could have a prank-less outing with them. It's just... Whoa!" She held out her hands to block an incoming blast of magic, but was thrown backward onto the ground. She was lying flat on her back, partially unconscious.

_ They're getting out of hand..._

Just as Toshiro started to make a move to break them up, another stray blast zoomed past him.

"Dammit!" he shouted, though the twins were too caught up in their fight to notice him.

_ "Wait..."_

_ "Toshiro!"_

He turned around and saw that Kamiko was missing. He ran up to the edge and saw her falling.

_ "Toshiro, she's unconscious! She'll die if she hits the ground like that!"_

Toshiro barreled off the cliff and straightened up so that he would fall faster.

_ "Wait, can we survive this fall?"_

_ "With your new power, easily. I just have to channel your magic into your legs for the impact and you'll be fine."_

_ "Good."_

Kamiko was falling headfirst, but her body was diagonal, so she wasn't falling as fast as Toshiro. He managed to catch up to her about halfway down the cliff.

_ "How high is this cliff?"_

_ "It's about fifteen hundred meters."_

_ "Sheesh."_

Toshiro flared up the Sacred Flame and pumped magic into his legs with Yuki's assistance. When he slammed into the ground below, the force of his impact dug a crater nearly ten meters deep and twenty meters wide.

"Whoa..." Toshiro mumbled. He glanced down at the girl he was now holding like a princess and noticed that her bikini top had fallen off during the fall. He quickly took off his shirt and covered her up.

_ She's a beautiful girl, but it still feels wrong seeing her like that. Despite that she's physically sixteen, she's still only one year old._

Toshiro jumped out of the crater and was met by the immortal Kye.

"Oh, hey," he said. "Uh..."

"I know."

He sighed. "Of course you know, Miss Omniscient."

"Thank you, Toshiro."

"It's nothing you couldn't do."

"I could have, but I'd be a hypocrite if I broke my own rules."

"What?"

"One of my laws states that gods are not allowed to interfere with mortals."

"Then what do you call turning me into a woman?"

"It gets bent, but not broken. If I were to save her, I would have had to mortalized myself to do so, and there's already a mortal me. Another of my laws states that there can't be two of the same person, meaning there cannot be two mortal Kyes or two immortal Kyes."

"So you couldn't help your own granddaughter because of your rules? At least she would have just been disqualified from the simulation."

"No, she would have died for real. If she would have died just now, the cause would have had nothing to do with the neuroi. This could have happened in the real world. Just as if one of the participants were to have a heart attack and die, they would actually die."

"You could have mentioned that sooner!"

"Will you rest easier if I tell you that nobody else is in danger of real death? This just now is the only case."

"And you know that because you can see the future?"

"Omniscience, remember? I didn't mention it because it's not a problem. I knew you would save her."

Toshiro sighed. "You're really something, you know that?"

Kye smiled warmly and stepped up to him. She placed her hand on Kamiko's forehead. "I have three daughters, but only one grandchild. I haven't had much time with her. Her immortal self was five years old when I split part of my being and performed the Divine Rebirth to be born as the mortal Kye Miyafuji. I've had her mortal self for a little over a year now. I love her with all my heart, just as I do my daughters, even though two of them are knuckleheads." She giggled.

Kamiko's eyes flinched slightly.

"She's starting to wake up," Kye said. She waved her hand in front of Toshiro, using her godly power to switch Kamiko's clothing back to her green battle kimono and placing Toshiro's shirt back on his torso. "Take care." She vanished.

Toshiro sighed again and watched as Kamiko's eyes opened.

"Oh, Toshiro. What happened?"

"You were hit by a stray blast from your prankster aunts. It knocked you unconscious and threw you off the cliff. I jumped down and caught you."

"You saved me!" She hugged him tightly. "Arigato! (Thank you!)"

"I couldn't just let you fall, now could I?" he said.

"Hehe. What about Mom?"

"She got knocked silly by a stray blast, but she's okay."

"So none of them know I fell?"

"Nope."

"Then... Please keep it a secret from them. I don't want Mom to worry, and I don't want Aunt Kaylie and Aunt Layla to feel guilty."

"They need to feel guilty, but I'll come up with something else for that."

"No, don't," Kamiko said. "Just let them fight it out."

"Okay then. Let's head back up there."

"Can you fly?"

"I was just going to climb the cliff with time dilution."

Kamiko grabbed Toshiro's arm and carried him up the cliff. Once the two landed at the top, they found Kaylie and Layla laying on the ground in a state similar to Rei.

"Haha! They knocked each other silly."

"Indeed." Kamiko giggled. "They'll snap out of it soon. Until then, I'll admire the scenery."

"You know, I'm a native Fusojin," Toshiro said. "Watashi mo, kotoba o hanasu. (I speak the language, too.)"

"Anata wa sore o miteinai ga, anata no saisho no namae ga itchi shimasu. (You don't look it, but your first name matches.)"

Toshiro gave her a thumbs up. "Fusojin to hokori ni omo~tsu te! (Fusojin and proud!)"

Kamiko returned his thumbs up.

"But you know, I'm actually a Karlslander now, and that does fit my physique."

"You changed your nationality? What a shame. Why?"

"After the Warlock was defeated, I returned to Fuso with the girls. I was promoted, but at the same time, I found out my mother died... The hair color comes from the stress I felt at that moment. I even wanted to kill myself after guzzling down a bottle of sake, but my familiar saved me... Afterwards, I've went to my patron goddess's realm to train for four months, but I couldn't tell anyone about it. When I returned, I learned that I was officially deceased. Thus, I took upon the offer of my uncle, who is the Karlsland Kaiser by the way, and joined the Wehrmacht under my dead father's name, since un-deceasing Toshiro Akayama would be a pain..."

"Oh my," Kamiko gasped. "You sure didn't have it easy."

"I keep lying to myself that a sword must be smitten in a fire before it takes shape, heh..."

Kamiko suddenly hugged Toshiro.

"Now what would your dear mother think, hmm?"

"Don't care," she said with a smile. "And... Toshiro?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you fix Mom for me? I want a Daddy when I grow up."

"Give me the details later, I think they started moving."

"Hai! (Yes!)" Kamiko cheered.

Once Kaylie, Layla, and Rei finally woke up, the three finished their jogging and headed back to base.


	12. Chapter 12: On a Roll

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 12: On a Roll**

* * *

**-April 15th, 1953-**

In the middle of the day, hours after Toshiro and company returned from their jog and after Kye returned from her dinner date with Doran, a briefing was called.

"I know today was supposed to be a rest day, but I want to push the Neuroi out of this region faster," Kye said. "To do that, we're taking out the hive in this region today, and to avoid overworking people, I will avoid taking people that battled yesterday except where necessary. We're not using any fancy strategies or covert operations to do this. We're simply going in and getting it done. In our recon mission, we detected four Neuroi signatures at Class Ten or above, so more of our high-power offensive fighters will be taking part in this mission. As such, the 501st, Neuri Green Team, Karlslander Contingent, Light Kingdom Contingent, 511th Fuso, and 511th European will be taking part of this mission. That includes Isabel Hartmann II. Our high-power offensive fighters will be taking out the Class Ten targets as fast as possible. Those fighters include myself, Toshiro Edelweiss, Yoshika Miyafuji, Rei Miyafuji, Mio Sakamoto, Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke, Gertrude Barkhorn, Erica Hartmann, Perrine Clostermann, Francesca Lucchini, Xiani, Ursula Hartmann when teamed up with Erica, all of the Light Kingdom contingent, Isabell Hartmann on her own or teamed up with other Hartmanns, Louise Clostermann III when teamed up with Perrine, Kaylie Maya, and Layla Maya. The rest of the participating teams will be playing support. I will assign a hive infiltration team on site. Any questions?"

Toshiro raised his hand.

"Are you kidding me with the hand up?"

"Whatever." He lowered his hand. "What are we going to do if we have to fight another one of those mountain sized turtles?"

"We have enough Class Nine and Ten level and beyond witches that it shouldn't be a problem so long as a few of them coordinate attacks. And stop underestimating your own power. You've been raised from roughly a Class Six level to Upper Class Ten. Either you or I could take out a Guardian Turtle on our own, it would just take more time."

Toshiro smirked. "If one appears, I call dibs."

"In that case, I want to meet with you privately after the briefing. I have a little _something_ in store that you might like." She winked at him. "Anyone else?"

Nobody responded.

"Those of you who are assigned to the mission, be ready by 1500. We're leaving at 1530. The rest of you are to hold down the fort. Dismissed!"

* * *

"So what's this little _something_ you mentioned?" Toshiro asked.

Kye grinned as she led him into the basement. "I did a little work on a duplicate of one of your cannons. I know how you like cannons, so I took your 128, built a copy, and enhanced it. We have two hours before we have to meet the others, so we're gonna spend that time preparing something special."

"I like special."

"You know how the Shockwave Rifle fires magic imbued rounds?"

"Yeah. It's probably the most ridiculous gun I've ever fired."

"Well, I made something like that out of your 128. I call it the Blastwave Cannon. It's all ready to go except for the rounds. Since I fixed this thing up specifically for you, I want you to imbue the rounds with your Sacred Flame. I think you'll like the results."

Toshiro grinned widely and rubbed his hands together. "MUAHAHAHAHAHA."

"My, my." She smirked. "I like the sound of that. Let's get started. To imbue the rounds, you first take it apart and..."

* * *

"I can count on you to keep everything in check right?"

Zen sighed. "Kye, you sound as though you don't trust me."

She gave him a wink. "Still working on that. I can't probe your mind like the godly me can, so I don't know if I can or not."

"You're not gonna let it go, are you? You know what really happened."

"I know what you told me. I don't know if it was the truth." Kye sighed. "Regardless, though, it doesn't matter here. Just keep the base secure while we're on the mission."

"Yeah, yeah, go blow up some Neuroi, Dear Sister."

She smirked at him. "That goes without saying."

* * *

Once 1500 rolled around, everyone met in the hangar and changed into their SFS Mark 2s.

"Whew. It's been too long." Bell grinned at the thought of going into sortie.

"Lookie, lookie, my spawn is getting excited!" Erica cheered.

"Damn right I am! I'm ready to blow them away." She formed a gust of wind in the palm of her hand that soon expanded to cover her body and weapon in an aura of wind magic.

"Yeah!" Erica followed suit with her own wind magic aura.

Ursula jumped in as well, and the three held their glaives up together and formed a tornado-like mass of wind that swirled around their bodies.

_ "Well they are excited."_

_ "You were too for your first mission here. This is the first mission that Ursula and the other girl are participating in."_

_ "I'm excited for this mission, too."_

_ "And I don't suppose it has anything to do with the Blastwave Cannon?"_

_ "Of course not... Maybe."_

"Alright, cool down, everyone." Kye clapped her hands to get the attention of everyone. "I'll conduct a short secondary briefing. I mentioned earlier than there are four Class Ten Neuroi signatures at this hive. Two of them are Aerial Battleships, one is likely a Guardian Turtle, and the fourth is likely the Neuroi Commander of this region. The fourth signature is the most powerful, and is higher than the two Neuroi Commanders we faced at the two fortresses in this region. Out of the high power fighters we have, I'm assigning one to each of these targets. The two Aerial Battleships will be engaged by Yoshika and myself, the Guardian Turtle, assuming that's the third one, will be handled by Toshiro, and Yami will take care of the Neuroi Commander."

"Huh? Why Yami?" Toshiro asked.

"I want our most experienced fighter to take on the commander. She's pretty much my equal here when it comes to Divine Light Style techniques."

He raised his eyebrow at her.

"It was either Yami fighting an Aerial Battleship and me fighting the Neuroi Commander, or this way."

He just stared at her.

She glared back at him.

"You could cut the tension with a knife," Kye's white haired sister said. "She chose me because I'm the only other person that is capable of executing the Senkou Suto technique as a mortal."

"The fuck is that?"

"You'll see," Kye said. "Just take our word that it's an instant kill on pretty much anything."

"Yeah, but while we're mortal we can only do it once per day," Yami added.

"Anyway, that's how it is. Everyone else is to follow the orders of their individual commanders while the commanders coordinate targets... Typical tactics. As soon as you're ready to go, come outside."

Kye left the hangar, followed soon by several witches and wizards. Toshiro remained for a moment to get his new Blastwave Cannon, which was about to get a field test. It had a five round magazine which was modified with an autoloader.

_ Okay, let's see..._

He pulled out the mag and saw that the slightly glowing shells were in place.

_ Sacred Flame ammo is good..._

After popping the mag back into the magwell, he pressed the autoloader button, and a familiar whiz sounded.

_ Electric? Well, the tech here is a bit more advanced, so they probably made an electric servomotor small enough and at the same time powerful enough to make an autoloader for a 25 kilogram shell work. Then again, she said she did this herself, so this might be more advanced than her world's tech._

He pulled up the scope to his eye.

_ Variable zoom, windage adjustment, focus correction... Shit, some high tech optics..._

Toshiro almost couldn't hide his excitement.

_ That crazy bitch really went overboard with this thing... Heh... Heheheheheheh._

* * *

"I have a full visual of the hive," Kye called out. "Still no hostiles. What about our north-bound team?"

"None here," Toshiro answered.

In mid-flight, Kye made a decision to split the group into two and have a smaller group approach the hive from the south. They had to circle around to the south side of the hive before they could approach it. She led the Light Kingdom Contingent and the 511th Fuso group, leaving the remainder of the forces to approach from the original direction from the base.

"Kye, we're in position."

"Alright. Can you see the two Aerial Battleships circling the hive?"

"Yeah."

"I'm going to fly in alone and engage one. As soon as I do, have your group join in. I'm sending our infiltration team in from this side. Shadow will get them inside under her stealth magic."

"Who is going?"

"Yami will lead the infiltration team. Shadow and a few members of the 511th Fuso group will fill out her ranks."

"Roger. On your mark."

Kye stopped and turned to the rest of the group that was following her. "Alright, Yami, you're leading. The Neuroi Commander and Hive Core are your main targets."

"Right."

"Shadow will get you in undetected, of course. As for the rest of the team, I want an Area Analysis witch... Uh... Kiyoko, you inherited Takeko's Area Analysis, right?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Then you go with them. Mei, you have Mio's Magic Eye. You go, too. Louise has high power offensive magic, so you'll go. One more... Uh..." She pointed at Mako Takei. "You. You're Junko's descendant. What's your name?"

"Mako Takei."

"Did you inherit Junko's Inspiration Magic?"

"Yes."

"How proficient are you?"

"Not as proficient as her, but still pretty good."

"Be confident, then," Kye said. "You're going. That's six people. As soon as I have their attention, you lot get going."

"Roger!" the six responded in unison.

Kye summoned Jouten and flared up her Zen Aura to full power. "I really have to thank my godly self for this. It's not often that I get to cut loose." As her power approached its maximum, rainbow sparks started jumping from the silver aura. Kye didn't notice it, but Yami and Shadow did. "Here goes!"

Kye bolted forward toward, clearing the distance between her group and her target in only ten seconds. As she closed in, she poured magic into her blade.

"**Zen Reppuzan!**" She discharged an enormous, rainbow-colored Reppuzan that spanned over a kilometer long by the time it reached her target.

_Rainbow? What...?_ Kye thought

Her attack completely bisected the colossal size Class Ten Aerial Battleship Neuroi and destroyed it.

"What the hell was that?" Toshiro asked over the radio.

"I uh..." Kye fumbled her words. "Doesn't matter! Engage the enemy!"

"Yeah, yeah."

Toshiro's group flew in and arrived just as Neuroi started pouring out of the hive. Yoshika engaged the second colossal Neuroi as the rest engaged the rest of the Neuroi armada.

Battles started erupting all over the airspace. Several witches teamed up to take on groups of Neuroi more efficiently.

"**Sturm!**" Erica, Ursula, and Bell shouted in unison. The three held their glaives up and formed a tornado-like funnel of air, but held nothing back due to being on the battlefield. The funnel of air soon erupted into a full scale tornado that the three worked together to control.

_ "Now that is... Heh."_

_ "Chum up, Toshiro. You have incoming."_

Toshiro summoned Aganaimaru and turned around to face the incoming Neuroi. It was a super large type.

_ "Toshiro, it's the single core variant."_

_ "Got it."_

Toshiro pumped magic into his blade, but before he could attack, Trude and Rosalie attacked it from opposite sides with powerful punches that shattered the Neuroi apart.

"Well then."

Trude smirked. "What's wrong, _Cousin_? Sleeping on the job?"

Toshiro raised his eyebrow at her while Rosalie sighed and just took off toward another Neuroi, batting away Neuroi beams with her magic gauntlets as she went. Trude waved at him and flew after Rosalie.

_ "That gives me an idea."_

_ "You must have a death wish."_

_ "Not funny, Yuki. But nah, I got this."_

Toshiro quickly spotted another super large type and chased at it.

_ Why do all of these bigger ones look like cigar tubes?_

The Neuroi opened fire at Toshiro, but he used Aganaimaru's flat surface and played baseball with the beams. One of the beams he batted away hit a smaller Neuroi and vaporized it.

"Homerun!"

"Haha, I saw that," Kye said as she descended toward him. "How are you holding up, Herrscher?"

"The fuck?"

"What?"

"Did you just say Herrscher?"

"So hab ich getan, Herrscher. (Yes I did, Sovereign.)"

"Oh, you want to play Karlslander with me, huh? Okay then." Toshiro said. He bisected the super large type Neuroi with a powerful Reppuzan before turning back to Kye. "Zwei können dieses spiel spielen, Fräulein. (Two can play at that game, Young Lady.)"

"Hehe." Kye giggled. "You called me "Fräulein". I'll take that as a compliment."

Toshiro sighed. "Whatever, Fräulein, but games or not, please don't use "Herrscher" on me. It's annoying as all hell."

"Oh? You don't like being referred to as a sovereign, even though you are an Archduke now?"

He just glared at her.

"Okay, okay."

"Now go away, I have some Neuroi to destroy."

"Actually, I want a favor."

"Sorry, Toshiro Life Consulting LLC is not open for business at this time."

"Funny. No, I'm pretty drained after that rainbow Reppuzan. To be honest, I'm not sure how I even pulled that off, but it took a lot out of me. I need a few minutes to _recharge_, so to speak. Care to be my knight in shining armor for a short while?"

Toshiro moaned. "Ugh, I guess. What _can _you do right now?"

"About the best I can do is shield us with normal shields. I can't fight back."

"I'll be the sword, you be the shield."

"Deal."

Toshiro gripped Aganaimaru and bolted toward the nearest Neuroi with Kye in tow.

Nearby, Shirley was spinning Lucchini in circles before finally throwing Lucchini at high speed into a large group of Neuroi. Lucchini grinned and threw explosive charges all over as she flew through the group. Once she was a safe distance past the group, she detonated the charges and watched as scores of Neuroi fell to her attack. Each explosive charge detonated and fragmented multiple times, causing massive damage in a wide area.

"That was one hundred and forty in one attack, Lucchini," Minna reported. "Well done."

"Victory!" Lucchini cheered.

"The second Aerial Battleship is down!" Yoshika called out. "I'm sorry it took me a bit longer."

"No, that's fine, Yoshika," Kye said. "My attack was more of a fluke."

Before anyone else could say anything, the ground started rumbling. Soon, a Guardian Turtle sprang out of the ground and started firing hundreds of beams in every direction, though it was careful not to hit the hive.

"I can't block those." Kye said while hiding behind Toshiro, who in turn erected a shield to protect them both. "Yoshika, come to me!"

"Roger!"

"Yoshika, I need you to protect me for now so Toshiro can focus on the Guardian Turtle. I'm still drained from that fluke attack."

Yoshika erected a series of shields in front of Toshiro to protect them both while she flew down to them. Kye flew away with Yoshika, leaving Toshiro to put the 128mm Blastwave Cannon to the test.

Toshiro dismissed Aganaimaru and pulled the cannon from his back. He double checked everything and took aim at one of the legs.

"Toshiro, if you shoot it at about the knee, chances are you'll destroy the whole leg." Kye told him.

"But the leg is a kilometer tall!"

"That's right."

Toshiro aimed at the knee and fired. He was amazed to see the round impact with a kilometer wide fiery explosion.

"Whoa..." Toshiro mumbled.

"Yeah, you can say that again," Trude said. "I want one!"

"You'll have to convince Toshiro to let you borrow his," Kye said

"No way! This baby is all mine." Toshiro took aim and fired at another leg.

Kye smiled at the sight of Toshiro having so much fun with his new toy. Her smile quickly disappeared as she started trying to figure out the rainbow colored Reppuzan.

**_"Hey, godly me. What happened just then? That Zen Reppuzan wasn't normal."_**

**_ "No, it wasn't. It would be more accurate to call that technique a True Zen Reppuzan."_**

**_ "But our mortal body shouldn't be capable of True Zen."_**

**_ "No, it shouldn't. I don't know how you did it either."_**

**_ "Our godly form is nigh omniscient, yet you don't know?"_**

**_ "Jouten is a grade above me. She might have..."_**

**_ "No, Master," _**Jouten suddenly added to the telepathic conversation.**_ "I had no hand in that."_**

**_ "Then the only other force that could have done that is _****her_."_**

**_ "You mean...?"_**

**_ "Yes. If it wasn't me and it wasn't Jouten, then there's only one other force in existence that could have influenced your attack."_**

**_ "But if she interfered..."_**

**_ "I don't sense anything out of place there, so I don't know why she did it. She does nothing without purpose, though."_**

**_ "Are you hiding something from me?"_**

**_ "I'm hiding nothing that you need to now."_**

**_ "Don't be cryptic with me, I know how your mind works. We're two separate bodies, but a single person."_**

**_ "Yes, but relax. There's nothing I'm hiding that has any relevance to the simulation. I will try to contact her and figure this out. Just carry on as normal until then."_**

**_ "Okay, then."_**

As her telepathic conversation ended, Kye noticed that Toshiro had destroyed all the legs, and they weren't regenerating.

Toshiro had two shots left in his second magazine. He fired one and immediately slowed time as much as possible before flying around to the other side of the Guardian Turtle and firing his remaining round. He resumed time and watched as the two shots completely decimated the Guardian Turtle's body.

Its final core, however, was left intact. An idea sparked as he flung the empty cannon on his back and re-summoned Aganaimaru. He flared up his Sacred Flame and poured magic into the blade. Once he was within range, he released a Reppuzan coated in flames. The fiery Reppuzan incinerated the core and shattered the few remaining parts of the enormous turtle's body.

"Was that a Sacred Flame empowered Reppuzan?" Kye asked.

"I wasn't sure if it would work, but Yuki said it would," Toshiro said.

Just as Toshiro grinned in victory, a semi-circle shaped arc of magic blasted out from inside the hive. The clouds started to dissipate and the remaining Neuroi forces shattered into white fragments, leaving only the infiltration team floating in midair.

"Good job, Yami," Kye said.

"It appears that the Senkou Suto destroyed both the Neuroi Commander and the Hive Core he was protecting in one shot."

"It's more powerful in the mortal world than I anticipated, then."

"Indeed."

"Minna?" Kye asked.

"I don't sense any Neuroi."

"Sanya?"

"All clear."

"Mission accomplished. Well done, everyone. Return to base!"


	13. Chapter 13: Camping in the Mountains

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 13: Camping in the Mountains**

* * *

**-April 16th, 1953-**

"Bored." the voices of a certain pair of redheads cried out together as they occupied two of the couches in their base's common room.

Nearby, sitting in a chair, was Trude. She was quietly reading a book, but every time Kaylie and Layla cried out that they were bored, Trude would glance up from the book with a look of annoyance in her eyes.

In another nearby chair rested Erica, who was fast asleep in a rather provocative position. Her head was leaned up against the back of her chair while her back was lying flat. The chair was rather large, so only her legs were hanging off the end. Her legs, despite being spread apart, were parallel with her back from her waist to her knees, which beyond that were bent straight down, holding the rest of her up.

Two other Hartmann girls, the twins Elizabeth and Sophia of the younger generation, were also in the room and also asleep, though they were on the floor cuddled up with one another.

Trude's great grandson, Lion, was quietly discussing a YouTube video with the only male Hartmann around, Fried.

Lion's younger sister, Rosalie, was sitting quietly to herself listening to music from a portable music player.

The elder Hartmann of the younger generation, Bell, was also present, doing nothing in particular. She just sat in the corner with only her thoughts to keep her busy.

"Kaylie, it's so boring that I don't even have the energy to prank you."

"Layla, it's so boring that I'm not sure I could prank you back."

The two glanced at each other in unison and said together, "That's pretty boring."

Toshiro walked just in time to hear Trude complain at the two. "Will you two be quiet? I'm trying to read. Even Hartmann, damn her sleeping habits, is doing better than you right now."

"But it's soooo boring." Kaylie whined.

"Then go find something to do elsewhere."

"There's nothing elsewhere," Layla muttered.

"Then at least keep quiet!"

"But..."

"What's all the hubbub about?" Toshiro asked while profusely glancing at the three.

"It's so boring I would lick my feet for thrills..." Kaylie mumbled with a sour face.

"What are you, a cat?"

"They sure resemble them, annoying everyone with their noises," Trude grumbled with an even more sour face. "Toshiro, why don't you turn on that noggin of yours and come up with something to entertain the two?"

"Stuff some cotton in your ears and go on reading, I'm pretty bored myself right now... If I was back home, I'd probably go for a stroll in the mountains." Toshiro sighed, reminiscing the innocent time of his youth in Yokosuka. "Wait a second..." He squinted his eyes and looked at Trude, who closed her book and gave Toshiro a wry smile.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" the Karlslander asked.

"Uhum. Time to put my permissions to good use."

"Just wake up sleepy head first."

_ "Yuki, care to help me?"_

_ "And watcha want?"_

_ "Voice change, a bit lower."_

_ "I guess you just have to pull your pranks... Sigh..."_

Toshiro approached Erica sleeping in her equilibristic position and poked her in the thigh.

"Hrrrrrrrmmmmmnnnn..." she mumbled.

"Aufwachen Sie, Schatzamt Kontrolle (Wake up miss, Inland Revenue)."

Erica tumbled and fell from the chair onto her back. She opened up her eyes and saw Toshiro sporting a mischievous grin.

"Damn monster... Gimme a break, I wanna sleep," she yawned.

"No way, it's time to do something better."

"Better? What can be better than sleeping right now?"

"Everyone!" Toshiro shouted. "Attention please!"

Everyone's heads turned to Toshiro, and the volume of his request was loud enough to wake up the remaining sleeping Hartmanns.

"What? Is something happening?" Elizabeth asked with a sleepy voice.

"It has come to my attention that today is as lazy as ever, so it's time to move our bums and go on a trip to the nearby mountains."

"Woo, trip!" Kaylie cheered.

"Finally something going on!" Layla added.

"A trip you say? Granny, what say you?" Lion asked.

"I'll call you Granny!" Trude shook her fist in the air wildly. "I'm in."

"I'm in too," Rosalie said while tidying her headphones.

"Toshiro, you have to sweeten the deal a bit..." Erica said and crawled back onto her chair.

"We'll be doing a barbecue."

"Count me in!" Erica shouted and jumped off the chair. "Girls, Fried, everyone is going! No exceptions!"

"Yeeeeaaaah..." they all moaned in unison.

"I'm glad you're all one mind on this one! Now, I'll go find Kye and tell her about this. Don't want to go AWOL, right?"

"Just one question before you leave: will we be taking others with us?" Trude asked.

"Dunno, do you want _more_ people than this bunch? First, I'll get permission for the trip, then we'll determine the roster, kay?"

"Sure thing, other worldly cousin."

"Pfeheheh..."

Toshiro went out into the corridor and pondered.

_Where could Kye be now...? I'll try the least and most expected place at once._

Thus, he went to the commander's office of the base. Fortunately for him, after knocking on the door her heard a rather focused, "Come in."

He opened the door and saw Kye sitting behind the desk, studying a big map. She raised her head and looked at Toshiro, "Oh, hey, my right hand man. What's up?"

"Well, Boss Lady, I came up with an idea for this crapshoot of a day."

"Do tell. Maybe I'll profit from it too."

Toshiro approached the desk and looked down at the map. After a quick glance, he pointed out one spot.

"You want to go there? Those are... mountains. A trip to the mountains? How many people?"

"That's debated upon now."

"No more than half of us at the time, Toshiro. Other than that, I don't have any objections. Go, have a good time."

"You know where Yoshika is maybe?"

"Uh... I know but, she's kinda busy right now."

"Aw crap..." Toshiro frowned. "Oh well, no Yoshika on the trip then."

"How are you doing, Toshiro?" Kye asked with sudden sympathy in her voice.

"Every time I see this world's Yoshika, it's like somebody pierces my heart with a foot-long needle. But after a few seconds, it feels like warmth starts to radiate from that spot, and I'm actually happy."

Kye smiled and said, "Don't worry. In a few weeks I imagine we'll be celebrating the end of this simulation. You'll return to your world, and maybe you'll meet your Yoshika soon."

"Heh... Thanks for the good word, Kye. I'm off then, see you... whenever we return."

"Yeah, have a nice trip. If you end up staying up there all night, be back in the morning by zero nine. We have to do some recon on the next quadrant."

"Aye, aye, Cap'n."

Just as Toshiro turned around to leave, the door swung open and revealed a pair of redheads he had only met once. Doran and Michelle were wearing the same jeans and t-shirt getup as the previous time they appeared.

"Yo, Kye. Sup?" Michelle greeted as she strolled into the room in front of Doran and found her way to the nearest chair.

"What are you two doing here? The simulation is in progress."

"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill and don't give a fuck."

"You know my godly counterpart will..."

"What will she do? Spank me? Dude, I'll sick Elizabeth on her."

Doran sighed.

"Alright, alright. Just givin' her a hard time," Michelle said. "Sheesh."

"I now refer to my earlier question. What are you two doing here?"

"Five, actually," Doran corrected.

"Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael, too?"

"Yeah. They're around here somewhere. We want to play in your little _game_."

"You know the rules."

"Already taken care of."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah. Michelle made this little wrist thingy that will limit us to the appropriate level while we're in combat with the Neuroi. Also, we already dropped our clothes and shit in one of the spare rooms."

"You just waltz in and assume that I'll let you stay?"

"You can have sex with Doran if that'll make you feel better," Michelle added bluntly and with a straight face.

Both Kye and Doran looked at her with a raised eyebrow, and Toshiro merely grinned.

Michelle maintained her straight face and added, "I'll even join in. Let's make it a threesome."

Kye and Doran maintained their raised eyebrows, though Toshiro couldn't stay quiet. "Aren't you and Doran siblings?"

"Naw, we're cousins."

"Still incestuous."

"Yeah?"

"Really?"

Michelle shrugged.

"Ignore her, she's joking," Doran said with a sigh.

"Spoil sport."

"Anyway..." Kye rolled her eyes. "Do whatever you want, but if you want to_ play_ in our_ game_, then you have to follow my orders."

"Yours and yours alone," Michelle said. "I ain't lettin' nobody else boss me around. Still decided if I'll let _you_ do it."

"Yeah, yeah. Now shoo, all of you. I'm busy," Kye said while waving them away.

* * *

Toshiro, Doran, and Michelle left Kye's office together and made their way outside.

"I know you said to ignore her..." Toshiro whispered to Doran as his eyes trailed off to Michelle's body. "But I'm having a hard time doing that."

Michelle noticed Toshiro's lecherous eyes. "You like what you see?" She grabbed the bottom of her shirt and pulled it up slightly. "Want to see more?"

Before Toshiro could answer, Michelle suddenly stood straight as a board, as if frozen. A tear formed in each of her eyes.

"Oww..." she moaned. "Elizabeth!"

Toshiro glanced behind Michelle and saw a slightly shorter blonde girl, also dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, holding a leather belt. She disappeared from his sight, and before he could react, he felt a sharp pain across his own behind.

_What the fuck...?_

"Elizabeth!" another redhead girl, who was also dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, called out in a scolding tone. "You can't just whip people you've never met."

"He was stripping Michelle with his eyes. I can't forgive that."

"Ha! I've done a lot worse than that."

The new redhead girl sighed. "Yeah, we know."

"You know?"

"We've been watching your antics since just before your first encounter with Mio Sakamoto in your world."

"Are you guys omniscient, too?"

"Omniscience is irrelevant in this case," Michelle said. "We've been watching you on TV!"

"Say what?"

"Doran's married to Kye, yo. We can watch other people's universes on TV whenever we want. Your_ show_ happens to be rather entertaining, though Elizabeth furrows her brow every time you do something perverted."

"That must be all the time."

"More often than not," the second redhead girl said.

"So I assume the spanker here is Elizabeth..." He turned to the other redhead. "And you are Danielle?"

"Right."

"Wasn't there a Michael in there somewhere?" Toshiro asked. "Kye mentioned that name."

"He's right there." Danielle pointed behind him.

Toshiro turned around and found a guy similar in size to Doran, albeit with short curly red hair. He wore the same outfit as Doran.

"Toshiro, meet the Maya clan," the Goddess Kye said as she appeared out of nowhere. "And vice versa." She glanced at Michelle. "So how'd_ me_ take it?"

"You tell me, you omniscient turd."

"Omniscient turd," Toshiro chuckled. "That's some smart shit."

"I see what you did there," Michelle giggled.

"Hmm... Could you imagine if there was such a thing as omnipotent crap?"

"Omnipotent farts is more like it." Doran added.

"Light it, make a universe," Michelle said. "The big bang!"

"Ha!" Toshiro laughed. "Hey, Kye, you should demonstrate."

"Let's don't and say we did. Besides, Family Guy already did that."

"Spoil..." Michelle mumbled.

The Goddess Kye started to finish Michelle's sentence for her, but Michelle covered Kye's mouth.

"Sport!" she said. "You start that sentence finishin' crap of yours when I start shovin' my foot up yer ass."

"Whoa..." Toshiro muttered.

Michael tapped Toshiro on the shoulder. "You've probably realized this by now, but Michelle's got more balls than any man."

"No kidding."

"Whatever," Kye said as she peeled Michelle's hand off her mouth. "Anyway, enjoy yourselves, and have fun camping." She gave a wink to Toshiro before disappearing.

"Camping sounds fun," Elizabeth said while hopping up and down. "Can I go? Can I? CanIcanIcanI?"

"Sure," Toshiro said.

"Why don't we all go? We haven't been camping in like-" Michelle started.

"- a long ass time?" Michael finished with a smug smirk aimed at his sister.

"Just 'cause you're my brother don't mean I won't shove my foot up your ass, too."

"Yet you never do."

"You've earned so many feet up your ass by now that I'd have trouble getting my foot back out!"

"I've got my belt," Elizabeth offered. "Just say when."

Michelle grinned. "Sick'em."

A mound of rock suddenly covered Michael.

"Too slow." Michelle sighed.

"Anyway..." Toshiro said. "If you guys want to go camping, you're welcome. Just go get whatever you're bringing and meet up in the hangar. I'm gonna go fetch the rest of the roster."

"Sounds good," Doran said. "We'll meet you there."

* * *

_ We ended up with seventeen people._

Toshiro and the group of campers finally finished their trek up to the mountains, taking roughly two hours to get there. The travel gave him a little bit to take mental notes on a few of his fellow comrades that he hadn't gotten to know very well yet.

_ Most of the younger generation didn't seem too excited at first, but they've slowly warmed up to the idea. The Hartmann twins, Elizabeth and Sophia, got excited as soon as we got here. Fried and Bell don't seem to care one way or another, and Lion looks like he's just taking it as it comes. Rosalie wasn't very happy that I made her leave her futuristic music thing behind, but she brought an old acoustic guitar. At least Kaylie and Layla won't complain about being bored for a while._

Toshiro sighed as he laid down the rather enormous pack he was carrying. He had Layla conjure the camping equipment with her Creation Magic, but laid down a rule that no magic be used after they arrived at the campsite unless for emergency.

_ I can't get a good read on Michelle. I've never seen a girl as wild as her before. That Elizabeth Maya is something, too. She gets upset at even the slightest perverted action, but is otherwise nice and borderline shy. Michael seems to be the serious one of the bunch, but he does get into it with Michelle sometimes. They're brother and sister, so I can see why. Danielle seems to be the calm and collected one. She mostly stays quiet during casual conversation, but will speak her mind when she wants. I don't know about Doran, though. He's very quiet, but he acts nice and stays neutral when the others get into it. I can't help but think that there's something more to it. Out of the five, I can't get a read on either Doran or Michelle._

**_"Give it up, Toshiro."_**

_ The fuck? That wasn't Yuki... That was Kye's voice._

**_"Ding ding ding. It's called telepathic communication."_**

_ Stop reading my fucking mind, already!_

**_"Until you start replying to me telepathically, I kind of have to read your mind to carry this conversation."_**

_ And how do I...?_

**_"Telepathy 101. When somebody capable of telepathy talks to you telepathically, all you have to do is think at the other person to reply to them. If you think you are replying to me, then you are. It's like a mental telephone call. Think of my name or picture my face if it helps."_**

**_ "I'm good. So what do you want?"_**

**_ "Well, Toshiro, you are thinking pretty hard into Doran and Michelle. Don't bother. You'll get nowhere with them."_**

**_ "And why do you say that?"_**

**_ "They are both very good at masking their personality. They're different than the other three. Those two are very close and rarely act like their real selves outside of times they are alone together, or with me. They tend to drop the act in combat sometimes, too, so if you really want a look into their personalities, wait until you fight alongside them, though there's no guarantee that they'll drop the facade even then."_**

**_ "I see."_**

**_ "I_**** will_ give you a little hint about Michelle, though. While she's putting up her wild and carefree facade, she will sometimes say something real and pass it off as a joke. She's already done that in front of you, though you will never know what is real or what is part of her facade."_**

**_ "I'll just watch her closely and find out."_**

**_ "You can do that, but she'll be aware of you watching her."_**

**_ "Is she a mind reader, too?"_**

**_ "Her IQ is extremely high. She's always playing a proverbial game of chess. No matter what you do, she'll be three moves ahead."_**

**_ "Isn't she a god? Her IQ is supposed to be retarded off the scale anyway, right?"_**

**_ "That's not how it works. The gods of this world are immortals with greater power that are charged with the duties of gods. For all intents and purposes, they are gods, but in literal terms, they are no more than glorified mortals with an unending lifespan. I'm the only true god of this universe."_**

**_ "So Michelle has a mortal IQ?"_**

**_ "Yes."_**

**_ "What is it? I bet it starts with a two."_**

**_ "Do you really want to know, Toshiro?"_**

**_ "Just tell me."_**

**_ "Three hundred seventy five."_**

**_ "..."_**

**_ "Your silence is so strong I can hear it, as oxymoronic as that is."_**

**_ "Yeah whatever."_**

**_ "Oh, come on, don't be a_**** spoil sport_."_**

**_ "Mumble grumble."_**

**_ "Have it your way, but one more thing, and this is about Doran. By his nature, he is an introvert and very quiet. That being said, he holds his friend and family bonds very close. Loyalty is the most important thing to him. If you can prove yourself a friend to him, and I mean a real friend complete with give-a-shits, he will do just about anything to help you. Remember that, Toshiro, but don't seek out his friendship for that reason, he will know."_**

**_ "I already like the guy enough to consider him a friend."_**

**_ "Indeed. Now have fun!" _**

Toshiro breathed a sigh of relief when he stopped hearing Kye's voice in his head before noticing that Michelle was staring at him intently.

"What?"

"What'd little Miss Rainbow Priss say?"

"HA!" Toshiro couldn't contain himself and bursted out into laughter.

Michelle grinned. "Like that didja?"

"Gods damn..." He managed after finally calming down. "Ha. I'll remember that one."

"Still didn't answer muh question."

"Nothing important." Toshiro shrugged. "Anyway..." He raised his voice. "We need some firewood. Any volunteers?"

He waited several seconds for one of the group to speak up. Everyone else was looking around, hoping someone would volunteer first.

"Bunch of lazy do nothings..." Lion sighed. "I'll get it, but I'm not gonna be subtle about it." He walked off toward the tree covered portion of the mountain.

"I wonder what he meant by that..." Toshiro muttered. "Whatever."

Setting up the tents and prepping the campsite only took about half an hour with everyone participating. Toshiro ended up finishing last due to setting up the fire pit. He had to gather the necessary amount of rocks suitable for the fire pit and clear out a spot of appropriate size for the job.

He saved the easy job of setting up his tent for last. When he emerged from his completed tent, everyone else had finished, and Lion was returning to the campsite carrying a tree on his shoulder.

_There is no way he did that without magic._

Lion carried the tree to an open spot and set it down. Before Toshiro could even ask, Lion explained himself. "I scouted out a good portion of the forest that's within feasible gathering distance. There was no usable firewood. Then I found this dead tree and figured we can cut it up for firewood, and be set until we leave. Had to use magic to get it here."

Toshiro sighed. "Fair enough. I guess I'll chop it up."

He held his hand out to summon Aganaimaru, but before he could summon the blade, a powerful gust of wind levitated the tree. Then a series of blade-like wind bursts sheered the branches from the trunk and sliced them into usable firewood.

Toshiro looked around to see who the culprit was, and found that it was Michelle. Toshiro looked back at the trunk of the tree just in time to see several more blade-like wind bursts slice up the trunk both horizontally and vertically, effectively reducing it to a pile of handheld firewood.

"Really?" Toshiro gave Michelle a death stare.

"What?"

"I can understand Lion's use of super strength magic, but that was overboard."

"Meh." She shrugged.

"Elizabeth?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes?" The Hartmann Elizabeth responded.

"The other Elizabeth."

"With pleasure," Doran's youngest fraternal twin said as she approached Michelle with her belt in hand.

Michelle stood her ground. "I didn't say or do anything perverted, so I will take that belt and beat you with it if you come at me with it."

Elizabeth turned back to Toshiro. "Too bad."

"Whatever. What's done is done, but there's another problem."

"What's that?" she asked.

"We have two Elizabeths here, so you two work out nicknames."

"Umm..." Elizabeth Hartmann said. "My friends back home call me Eli."

"That works out good," Michelle said. "Our Elizabeth goes by Lizzy or Liz."

"Works for me," Toshiro said. "I'm going to scout out the area and see if there's anywhere worth exploring."

"I wanna go!" Kaylie volunteered.

"Me, too." Layla added.

"Be careful, girls," Doran said.

"Dad, we're not little kids," Kaylie shot back.

_I forgot Doran is the trouble twins' father._

Doran shrugged. "Coulda fooled me."

"Aunt Dani, tell him!"

"Squirts."

"Aunt Dani!"

"Hey, KayLay." Elizabeth pointed behind them, where they saw that Toshiro was already walking away.

"Oh crap," the two said in unison before running off after him.

* * *

Forty minutes after they left the campsite, Toshiro, Kaylie, and Layla still hadn't found much to see. The forest was thick near the foot of the mountain, but the higher they went, the more it thinned out.

The campsite was about halfway up the mountain. The trio of adventurers wondered up a short distance before diverting their attention downward. They made their way down the mountain on the opposite face and into the thicker forest at the bottom. There they found a pond hidden away in a thick grove of tall trees.

"This place is nice," Layla said as she pulled her shoes off. "I didn't expect Mom to make a spot like this on this planet."

Toshiro slumped down near the water's edge, next to the twins. "Looks like a good place to take a dip."

Layla lowered her bare feet into the water. "It's warm. Kay, try it out."

Kaylie pulled her shoes off and sat on Layla's other side, allowing her feet to dangle in the water, too. "Wow, that's nice." She leaned back, supported by her arms, and closed her eyes. "Mmm."

"Mmm," Layla echoed.

"Note to self, twins like warm water," Toshiro noted aloud.

"Good note," The twins replied in unison.

"Know what else?"

"What?" they said, again in unison.

"It's a good place to get it on."

"Indeed," Kaylie said.

Toshiro stole a glance at her. "Shall we?"

"Nope."

"Layla?"

"What she said."

"But..."

"No!" they half shouted.

"Boo."

"Why do you want us so badly?" Layla asked. "There's plenty of other girls here."

"They're not gods."

"There's a few," Kaylie said. "Mom, Big Sis, Aunt Yami, Grandma, Aunt Zana, although four of those are taken."

"I know your Mom is, but the other three?"

"All but Big Sis."

"Rei?" Toshiro asked. "She's living as a mortal, though. You two are the only single female gods around."

"What about your goddess? Amaterasu?"

"While the idea of banging Ami_ is_ intriguing, I think this would put too much unnecessary_ air_ between us, if you know what I mean."

"And you're not putting such_ air_ between you and us by bugging us about it?"

"Nah, you two are too cool about it."

"We're cool?" Layla suddenly spoke up again. "I thought we were hot."

"Both?" Toshiro countered.

"Whatever."

"Seriously though, what is it going to take to get into your pants?" he asked.

"If that's all you want, you can't make a good enough offer," Kaylie said.

"Hmm..." Toshiro mused to himself.

The three sat together in silence for a while, though the silence was only on the outside. Toshiro's mind was hard at work thinking about something.

**_ "Kye, you there?"_**

**_ "What's up?"_**

**_ "I heard that Doran and the others watched my adventures like I was on television."_**

**_ "Indeed."_**

**_ "So... Did they also see...?"_**

**_ "Come on, we're both adults, you don't have to be so shy."_**

**_ "Okay then. Did they see my sexual escapades?"_**

**_ "Being such a good chum, I cut those parts out. The audio goes silent and the video goes black. Of course there is an uncensored version, but without the consent of the_**** actors_, nobody gets to see it, not even the gods, regardless of what universe they govern. Excluding Ami of course."_**

**_ "Really? Well, thanks... But why exclude Ami? I mean, I lived with the conscience that hundreds, thousands, or who-the-fuck-knows-how-many entities are watching my every move, but..."_**

**_ "It's because you are her Chosen. She has the right to watch you in every microsecond of your life, and I won't rob her of that privilege."_**

**_ "Well, that's kinda reassuring... But if you're indeed so powerful, you could just bullshit me and I wouldn't even know. Or, on the other hand..."_**

**_ "Stop with the philosophical banter and paradoxes, I'm above that. And you don't have to answer, I already know that deep down you believe me."_**

**_ "Hurrrrr..."_**

**_ "You asked for it, heehee... And seriously, stop diverting everything towards sex!"_**

**_ "That's who I am."_**

**_ "Yeah, yeah, be who you are. I'm signing off since I already know that's all you wanted."_**

With that bit of reassurance, Toshiro breathed a sigh of relief. Then, the thought of being of television occurred to him.

_ I'm already famous..._

"You're thinking so hard that I can almost see a thought bubble above your head as if reading a manga," Kaylie said.

"I was already thinking about the topic "Toshiro on TV!". Now I'm thinking about "Toshiro in a manga!"."

"Please, don't get this loaf thinking about anything else!" Yuki said aloud through Toshiro.

"I swear that'll never get old," Layla said. "Seeing you talk with a female voice..."

"It's a nice improvement, right?" Yuki continued.

"Definitely."

"I'll show you a nice improvement..." Toshiro mumbled as he stood up and stepped back from the pond a short distance. He diluted time, stripped down, and jumped into the pond. He swam around underwater for a short while before finally popping only his head out in front of the twins a short way from the bank.

"You know, Toshiro, if you're trying to impress us, that's not the way to do it," Kaylie told him. "We saw your little stunt at normal speed."

"Hmm..." He mused another thought for a moment. He submerged again and swam closer to the bank. He saw that the water was very shallow within five feet of the twins. He slowly creeped right up in front of the twins and popped his head up near their feet.

"Why hello there!" Kaylie greeted.

He grinned for a moment before quickly rising up out of the water in all his bare glory.

Kaylie sighed, but Layla scooted backwards away from Toshiro.

"Yeah, I scare a lot of girls with this thing," he said with a vain attempt to sound nonchalant.

"How long have you been waiting to use that line?" Kaylie asked.

"You're good," he said. "But Layla on the other hand..." He stepped onto the bank and started slowly walking toward her.

Before he could get even an inch past Kaylie, a bolt of lightning fell out of the sky and struck Toshiro. Kaylie vanished from her spot with only a split second to spare.

Afterward, Toshiro was left standing in the same spot, albeit blackened from his own burning flesh.

"Oww..." he groaned.

Elizabeth dropped out of the sky and landed between Layla and Toshiro. "Pervert."

"Aunt Lizzy!" Layla jumped up and hugged her aunt from behind.

"Hi, LayLay," Elizabeth said softly.

Toshiro tried to take another step forward, but fell flat on his face.

Kaylie reappeared next to him. "Aunt Lizzy, you just about killed him."

"He deserves what he got," Elizabeth said adamantly. "Comin' at my niece like that..."

"Layla, you better fix him up," Kaylie said.

Layla sighed and set to work. Even though Toshiro was burned just about as bad as a person can be, he emerged only ten seconds later without as much as a crispy piece of dead skin, albeit still nude.

Toshiro slowly stood up. His body was completely healed, but he was slightly dizzy. Once the feeling passed, he diluted time, slipped past Kaylie and Layla, and pinned Elizabeth up against a tree before stopping the time dilution.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

Elizabeth was completely unfazed. "Put your clothes on."

"I REPEAT: WHAT THE HELL?"

In the blink of an eye, Elizabeth freed herself and kicked Toshiro square in the chest, launching him into the deep end of the pond. The water started to bubble for a moment before he suddenly launched up out of the watering, having kicked hard off the bottom, clad in the Sacred Flame.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes before giving Layla a hard stare. She took Elizabeth's visual cue and magically created clothing on Toshiro, effectively clothing him by force. Toshiro paid no attention to that, however, and summoned Aganaimaru.

He landed on the bank and charged at Elizabeth. With a mighty swing, he brought the full power of a Sacred Flame empowered Reppuzan upon Elizabeth.

She retaliated by simply holding out her hand and catching the blade, shocking Toshiro out of his fit of rage.

"Are you done?" she asked calmly.

Toshiro reluctantly dismissed Aganaimaru.

"You took a lightning bolt from her and lived," Kaylie said. "You took a kick from her as well and you're still standing. That's rare."

"That power up I got from Kye is no joke," Toshiro said.

"That's not what I meant. It wasn't a "Hey, you're strong enough to survive it.", it was a "Hey, she chose not to kill you." scenario."

"Really now?" Toshiro asked.

"Really," Elizabeth answered. "Try to keep your perverted side in check now, please."

She started to lift off the ground and fly away, but Toshiro wasn't done with her. "What's your problem?"

Elizabeth touched back down and stared him straight in the eyes. "You do that shit in your world, that's fine. Don't expect to do it here without consequence, especially with my family."

"Whatever," Toshiro said. "You know what I've gathered from you?"

Elizabeth snickered. "This should be grand. What?"

"You need a dick in your life."

"Toshiro, don't go there," Kaylie warned in a tone as serious as a heart attack.

Toshiro ignored the warning and continued. "Obviously you don't have one. Why don't you go get laid? You might think a little differently if you did."

"Is that so?" Elizabeth said with a raised eyebrow. "Doctor Toshiro thinks I'm broken and need fixing. Hmm, Lion is a stud. Fried, too. Maybe I'll go fuck one of them. Better yet, both at once. That sound good? Oh, do you want to watch? Maybe you want to join in? I bet it would be a wild ride having three big, strong men going to town on me all at once. Or maybe just you and me. You seem to be able to satisfy any woman you touch to the point that they come crawling back for more. Some of them even team up just to have the chance to go another round with you. Yeah, that sounds good, right? Come at me, Big Boy. Show me what you've got. I can take it _real_ good."

Michelle suddenly appeared out of nowhere and flicked Elizabeth on her forehead. "Chill." Michelle grabbed Elizabeth's left hand and held it up for Toshiro to see. "See, Toshiro? Married. And a mother on top of that. She's no stranger to sex, but she's a very chaste person."

Michelle released Elizabeth's hand and gestured at her to leave, one Elizabeth responded to with a sigh, but reluctantly complied.

Michelle turned toward Toshiro. "You have an IQ of one hundred and seventy five, yet you act as if the one is a zero. You only just met her, and already you pissed her off. You're lucky I intervened when I did. You managed to flip her bipolar switch. Another couple seconds and you would've been dead."

"I know the rules for the simulation," Toshiro said. "She couldn't have killed me. And not only that, but no immortal can be stronger than Yoshika. The godly Kye powered me up to be able to compete with Yoshika and the mortal Kye, so right now I'm as strong as the immortals."

"Do you really think that? On the first note, you saved Kamiko from a deadly fall two days ago. Have you already forgotten what Kye told you? If somebody died during this simulation, but their death has nothing to do with the Neuroi, they die for real."

"Kye also said that nobody else was in danger of real death."

"She was talking to you when she said that. Because of how she worded it, you weren't included. If you were included, she would have said "Neither you nor nobody else". She chose her words carefully as to not alert you to your own possible death."

"Whatever."

"On the second note, Elizabeth and I, as well as Doran, Danielle, and Michael, are from Earth, albeit a different Earth than the witches. We're not limited in the same way as the immortals and gods, or did that stunt Elizabeth pulled when you attacked her already slip your mind? We are only limited while we are in combat with the Neuroi."

Toshiro didn't even say "Whatever." that time.

Michelle sighed. "You have no idea how important you are. If you die, both this world_ and_ your world are screwed."

That got Toshiro's attention. "What are you talking about?"

"You don't even know yet. Kye should have told you about Mavet already."

"Who's Mavet?"

"A god," she said. "And not a normal god, like Amaterasu from your world, or the twins standing over there. I'm talking a true god like Kye. An Elder God."

"And what does my status of living have anything to do with that? A being that powerful wouldn't even have to blink to get rid of me."

"Heh. What indeed. I can't believe she hasn't already told you... Hmm. That tricky little... She used me to tell you."

"What?"

"At least this much of it. Ha. Touché, Kye, touché."

"What's the big secret?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Michelle said before vanishing.

Kaylie and Layla exchange curious glances.

_ Did that really just happen?_

* * *

Toshiro and the twins ended up staying at the pond for a while and headed back to the campsite right before dark. Several of the other campers were missing, but when Toshiro asked Bell, one of the few remaining, she told him that the others found an old mineshaft and went exploring inside. At first, Toshiro was concerned about possible cave-ins, but Doran assured him that they would be fine since Michael went with them.

Knowing that everyone was safe and that he would not have to do any digging to rescue any comrades, Toshiro gathered some of the wood from the sliced up tree and started a bonfire. He challenged himself to light it without magic, and succeeded with minimal trouble.

He, Doran, Danielle, and Bell took turns making sure the fire had enough wood to keep it going. By the time the rest of the group returned from their mineshaft adventure, the sun was completely gone, leaving only the night sky behind.

Toshiro gathered everyone around the bonfire. "Okay, who wants the first scary story?"

"Oh, no," The Hartmann twins, Sophia and Eli, said as they huddled up together.

"Me first!" Layla called out.

"Make it good," Toshiro said.

Layla spawned a flashlight, turned it on, and held it under her face, pointing it upward. "Has anyone heard the story about the Isle De Muerta of the Caribbean Sea?"


	14. Chapter 14: A Witch's Remorse

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 14: A Witch's Remorse**

* * *

**-April 17th, 1953-**

"Yoshika, aim..." Mio was floating next to Yoshika pointing at the enormous turtle Neuroi in front of them in the same manner as the first time Yoshika took to the air to defend the Akagi in 1944. The Guardian Turtle was standing over the ruins of the fort they had just finished destroying. "There!"

The turtle was already damaged to the point that it no longer had legs. Unlike with the Guardian Turtles they had destroyed before, this one merged its cores when the first four were destroyed, forming a super-core inside.

Yoshika was aiming at the location of the core with her longbow. Once Mio confirmed the location, Yoshika released the rainbow colored magic arrow.

She spoke the name of the technique so quietly that even Mio, who was nearby, could barely hear it. "Sacred Arrow."

The arrow, which carried a power greater than the Zen Reppuzan, launched from Yoshika's bow with a force so extreme that it generated a shockwave burst, throwing both Yoshika and Mio back over one hundred meters. Even Toshiro, who was nearly two hundred meters away, was pushed back slightly.

Yoshika's Sacred Arrow did not go unnoticed by the Guardian Turtle. It retaliated with the most powerful energy beam it could muster, but the beam was merely pierced and split apart by the arrow. The turtle could do nothing as the arrow slammed into the turtle and pierced all the way to the core before exploding in a brilliant show of rainbow magic. The turtle was completely engulfed by the powerful attack. Once the rainbow colored sphere of magic cleared away, no trace of the turtle could be found.

_ Holy shit..._

Yoshika panted heavily after that attack, but stayed airborne thanks to Mio supporting her.

"There is no trace of Neuroi activity remaining," Minna reported. "Well done, everyone."

"Minna, do you read?" Kye asked over the radio.

"Yes, Kye, I hear you loud and clear."

"We just finished up on our end. What's your progress?"

"We're done, too."

"Good. I'll see you at the base."

"Roger that," Minna said before cutting the transmission. "Mission accomplished. Return to base!"

"Roger!" Everyone resounded.

Toshiro flew up to where Mio was helping Yoshika stay in the air and offered his hand. "I can carry you back."

"Are you sure?" Yoshika asked.

Toshiro nodded and Mio helped Yoshika onto his back. Yoshika wrapped her arms around him, her right over his right shoulder, and her left under his left arm. She laid her head on his left shoulder and hung on as he took off toward the base, following behind the rest of the pack.

* * *

_ Even in this world, I can't help myself around Yoshika. It's a little different than in my world, but she's still the same girl. She fought so hard in the battle, then she topped it off with that unbelievable arrow attack at the end._

"I can't help but wonder," Yoshika muttered.

"Hmm?"

"What is your world like?"

"If I could compare, I'd say it's similar to what yours was like in 1945. The Neuroi are a menace, and although they don't compare to the Neuroi in this simulation, the threat is real."

"I hated war when I was a teenager," Yoshika said. "I still do. My heart rests easy now that I know there is only peace in my world. I hope you get that chance soon."

_ Her tone doesn't match. She sounds distant._

Yoshika continued, "The Neuroi in your world... Is there any chance they are like what the Neuri Tribe of my world used to be?"

**_ "No. The Neuroi of Toshiro's world are not cursed humans. They are monsters."_**

"Did you just hear Kye's voice, too?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah, she answered my question."

"Just making sure," Toshiro said.

Yoshika sighed and rested her head.

"If there's anything bothering you, I'm more than willing to listen. I've got a little experience with helping friends out with their problems."

"I appreciate the thought, but I doubt any of your friends have been through what I've done."

"I'll still listen."

"Okay then," Yoshika said. "Let's start with this: Have you ever killed a person?"

_Uh oh..._ Toshiro gulped. "No, but I've come close... Four times. I almost killed another human being. If you want..."

"If you're okay with telling me, I'll listen."

"Then I'll tell you. First, a bit of background. The Sacred Flame I now have was a real bother until I tamed it. How I tamed it is a story for another time, but the most important thing is that it would shorten my fuse to a bare minimum."

"You had anger management issues?"

"Pretty much. I still have them, but that's only my sense of justice crying out loud, heh... Anyway, it might come as a surprise, but one of the first people I came close to killing was Mio."

"Mio? But why?"

"Some more background info first. Up until the day before that event, I was a normal guy. But then all the hubbub with Yuki and Amaterasu started. Fast forward, I was returning home from the mountains and boom, I hear my mother screaming. As I enter the Akayama household, there's a guy pressing his fat gut against my mother. I smack him in the face, he goes flying. But then, he pulls out a pistol, and I'm already making my amends when a shield pops up in front of me. We both go all "what the fuck", but he ran away. The man was a Sergeant in my unit."

"I couldn't imagine if some guy tried that with my mother..."

"Despite what he did, my mother wanted me to leave it be. The next day, I go jogging in the mountains and Mio pops up. Now I was really damn scared. But you know what she did?"

"No idea."

"To test me, she told me that she would first kill me, and then my mother. The Sacred Flame in me literally exploded and she almost took a fiery ride onto Abraham's bosom."

"But?"

"But my body gave up, and Mio got out of it with some minor burns and the fright of her life."

"You had no control over your body?"

"I had consciousness, but my body was acting according to the Sacred Flame's will. Which was, by chance, my will released from the shackles of doubt, sense, and morality."

"So you would try to kill Mio anyway?"

"I wouldn't take my chances with somebody armed with a sword. But if it came down to good old pugilism, I would try to mash her up a bit."

"But not kill?"

"Why are you dwelling on this topic? Of course not. And Mio would probably stop my killing intentions if the situation got out of hand, don't worry."

"Hmm... Yes, Mio has her way with words, heehee... So that repulsive guy and Mio are the first two?"

"Yeah. Moving on to number three... I was in a pub in London with... _A certain lady_. Then, a local drunk defamed that lady. And said drunk suddenly found himself flying through the pub, the door on the other side of the pub, flying across the street, and finally stopping on the wall of the building on the other side of the street. And only the terrified stare of that _lady_ stopped me from going further."

"Valiant, but too much violence in my opinion... Was the man tended to?"

"Yes, don't worry. I met him a week or so later. Bah, my punch cleared his clogged sinus, haha!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, totally."

"Heehee."

"For the last one, you would possibly give me a green light if I killed him, though I have my doubts about even that."

"Killing people is bad, but you have my attention, Toshiro. Who was it?"

"Maloney."

He could feel that Yoshika moved on his back uneasily.

"A tough choice, right?" he asked.

"Maloney was a bad man. He made precedence the research on Neuroi, which led to the whole mess with the Warlock, and later with the Yamato... Many people died because of that... Many people I couldn't protect. But even then, I wouldn't kill him."

"I was close. But Yuki pulled the plug on me, saving me from all sort of trouble it would incur."

"Pulled the plug?"

"Literally blacked him out," Yuki said.

"Ah, that's unexpected."

"Right?" Toshiro smirked to himself.

"What happened to Maloney in your world?"

"As far as I know, he's in prison. How did things unfold here? Did he order the Strike Witches to hunt and shoot you down?"

"Yes," Yoshika answered. "They didn't follow that order, but they did bring me back to the base. Maloney met us on the runway and disbanded us. As Mio, Perrine, and I were leaving on the Akagi, the Warlock engaged the Neuroi Hive, but ended up turning on us. I fought the Warlock by myself, then we all fought the Akagi when the Warlock fused with it. We flew inside and I destroyed the core by sacrificing my striker. Minna, Trude, and Erica, before they joined up with us to fight the Akagi, took care of Maloney. They tied him up. I later found out that Kye got ahold of him."

"I bet she didn't play nice after he gave the order for her niece to be shot down."

"She was upset."

**_ ""You're lucky you're alive." my mortal counterpart said to him after she found him in the control room shortly after Minna, Trude, and Erica left to join the battle. "If they had killed her, I would have done the same to you, but slowly. Very slowly. You would beg me for death, but you would be denied until you suffered for a long time, long enough that you would have lost your sense of time. Then I would finally give you death by slowly carving out holes in your thighs, after which you would slowly bleed out. Then you would finally know death.""_**

"Whoa..." Toshiro muttered. "That's..."

**_ "Our Maloney is currently a resident of the deepest dungeon in the Light Kingdom. He is serving a life sentence for every person killed in the Warlock incident. To ensure that he'll serve all of those sentences, he has been forced to wear an immortality bracelet. Only a god in this world can remove the bracelet, and while he wears it, he is immune to death by all causes except me."_**

"That's a lot of life sentences." Toshiro said. "Your world doesn't play around."

"Nothing has been the same since Kye came into my life," Yoshika said. "I first met her in 1945, one month after the Venezia Hive battle, though I do have a few flashes of her from when I was a baby."

"Kye has changed my life a lot, even though I've only known her for a few weeks."

"For better or worse?"

"I don't know yet. But anyway... You know about my four close calls with killing people. Where were you going with this?"

Yoshika didn't answer at first.

"If you'd rather wait to talk about this, we can do it later."

"I've killed thousands. It's ironic that I say that when I'm a healer, but it's true."

"Explain."

"The Neuroi in my world... They were all just cursed humans. I killed thousands of them."

"You didn't know."

"Ignorance is no excuse," she argued. "That's like saying you didn't know you killed somebody after blacking out from getting drunk. It doesn't change the fact that you did it."

"This is different."

"How so?"

"They weren't human at the time, they were Neuroi."

"They were cursed Neuri Tribe members."

"You also didn't have a choice."

"That makes it worse! Knowing that... I just feel like I was no more than a mindless mercenary."

"You've been holding this in for a while, haven't you?"

"You know what I did a year ago right? At the end of the alternate future conflict?"

"You cured the Neuri Tribe of their curse using the Zen Serenity."

"I've been holding it in since then. It slowly started to eat at me. I cured them, but that came with the realization that I didn't kill monsters. I killed people."

"That's a hard one, Yoshika. It really is. I'm not exactly sure what to say, but I know one thing at least."

"What's that?"

"Your intention was pure." He took her by surprise. "Regardless of what you did, you did it with the mindset of saving your loved ones, as well as the world. I know there's a flip side to that coin... You saved part of the world while condemning another, but... Your intention was good."

"Does a good intention make a wrong act good?"

"I suppose it depends on the situation," Toshiro said. "I know you won't want to do this, but... I think you should talk to Xala about it. If there's anyone who can understand it, she is that person. She was a Neuroi in that war, and up until you cured her a year ago. She will know both sides of the coin."

"Maybe I will. Thanks, Toshiro."

* * *

The witches and wizards arrived at the base roughly an hour after leaving the battlefield. Most of the battle participants decided to take it easy for the rest of the day, but a few were still more than energetic.

Kye, Doran, and Michelle started to run laps around the base shortly after they returned. Toshiro escorted Yoshika to her room, where she quickly went to sleep. Toshiro decided to join the runners afterward.

He was disappointed to see that both Kye and Michelle had bound their breasts before they started running.

_No bouncy... Sigh._

They ran circles around the base for a solid three hours before finally stopping. After eating dinner, Kye called a briefing.

"Our mission tomorrow will commence at 0600. We will be attacking the Neuroi Base in the northeast quadrant, where we just destroyed the two forts today. This base is the same as the one the 501st, 511th Fuso Sect, and Xala's team encountered in the alternate future. Taking down a Neuroi Base is different from a hive. Bases have a powerful barrier protecting it. This barrier is powered by four towers located at the corners of the base. To get inside, we must use four exceptionally powerful people."

"I volunteer," Toshiro said immediately.

"Unfortunately, you are not able to perform this task. These four exceptionals must be able to use some form of aura. Your skill with your Sacred Flame is not yet sufficient."

"Yeah, fuck."

"The four I've picked out are myself and Xala's team. Xala, Xelia, Xia, I assume you three are up to the task?"

"Yes." Xala spoke for herself and her team.

"Good. We'll coordinate which pylons we target tomorrow on site," Kye said. "The goal is to take down the barrier and start an all-out assault. Once the barrier is down and the assault started, a small infiltration team will enter the base. Their mission is seek and destroy. The main core will be located deep inside the base. I have three people picked out for the infiltration team already, and will notify the other three tomorrow while we are traveling to the mission area. The teams participating in this mission will be the 501st, 511th Fuso, all three Neuri Teams, the Karlsland Contingent, and 511th Head Commander Isabell Hartmann II. Bell is coming to be part of the infiltration team. The two others I've picked out are Erica and Trude. The mission starts at 1200 tomorrow."

"Roger," the participants responded in unison.

"The rest of you are house sitting. We'll be forty minutes away at Mach 2, or ten minutes away at Mach 8. I want Yami, Zen, Lily, Shadow, and the 516th C Team to be on standby. If the base is attacked while we are away, you know the drill: radio it in to me immediately."

"Roger!"

"Dismissed."

* * *

Toshiro was waiting in the corridor silently, waiting for a very specific participant of the briefing. Before that however, Kye approached him.

"Hope you're not sulking about you not being chosen for the pylon team?"

"If you say I'm not cut for it, then I'm not." Toshiro shrugged. "Even having my power up, I guess it's at least a year too early to even hold a damn candle to you guys."

"Ho, don't be so self-depreciating, Toshiro." She placed one of her hands on his right shoulder. "I said it once, and I'll restate it: if you were born here and went through all the trials and tribulations the 501st in this world went through, you would be giving me a run for my money. So don't bother yourself, you have your own merits, and I don't mean your libido." Kye smirked. "And remember, the reason I didn't pick you for that team is only because you haven't mastered your Sacred Flame, and only that. Once you do, it'll be your own Toshiro-specific magic aura, like how the rest of our auras are _somewhat _unique."

"Ha! Well, whatever now, I want to have some chit-chat with that lovely post-Neuroi girl behind you."

"I just hope you won't be trying to use that _quality_ of yours against her."

"Don't give me ideas, Kye. It's tempting."

"Oh whatever." She sighed. "Just don't make a scene or cause public demoralization, kay?"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Oh, and Toshiro. Since you're not messed up about not being picked for the pylon team, I hope you're up for the infiltration team. Bye, now."

Toshiro sighed in relief as Kye walked away, and waved Xala over.

"Hello, Toshiro. What puzzles you?"

"Let's have sex," he said with the straightest face possible.

Xala's face flushed red and she covered her panties immediately.

"I-It would be t-tempting b-but..."

"Nah, I was jesting. But if you consent, I'm available."

"I... Maybe I'll consider it... If I may ask something?"

"Hmm?"

"What is the size of your... reproductive organ?"

"Now that's a rather straightforward question... I'll tell you, but promise me that you'll do a favor for me in return. And no, it doesn't have any sexual context, implied or explicitly stated."

"I agree."

Toshiro came closer and whispered the answered to Xala's question. Fascinated, she started measuring something in the air, and she finally answered, "Certainly bigger than the first man I had intercourse with... Okay, Toshiro, what do you want in return?"

He looked around and said, "I want you to talk to Yoshika when she wakes up."

"Is there any specific topic I should discuss?"

"Yes. Yoshika blames herself that she committed a genocide on the Neuri tribe."

"But she didn't know. _I_ didn't know."

"Precisely. But I want you to talk to her and tell her about if from your perspective. I felt that she's really bummed down by that."

"I sense that you care about Yoshika more than just as a friend," Xala smiled warmly. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

"Maybe. But only if you promise not to tell anyone. ANY. ONE."

"I promise on the honor of my ancestors."

"I don't know the worth of that, but I'll take that as "it works"," Toshiro said and in a split second he triple checked whether they're not being eavesdropped upon. "The thing is, that in my world... Yoshika is my fiancé."

"Oh... Oooooooh! Incredible! But then, why do you seek intercourse with me?"

"Yoshika became... hmm... sexually liberal and enlightened around me. She's very considerate about my conquests, so if I showed enough repentance, she would forgive me."

"I see... I will be on my way, Toshiro. Consider this Yoshika talked to."

"Thank you. I guess you are human, a bit socially awkward, but still a human."

"Heehee. I'm glad you've changed your mind about me. Who knows, maybe I will let you inside of me... But not now, I have a mission!"

"Sail across the seas... Oh wait, wrong speech."

"Haha!" Xala laughed heartily and walked away.

_ "Toshirooooooooo..."_

_ "What is it, Yukilein?"_

_ "Keep that whip of yours on the nail, would you?"_

_ "And you and what army will stop me? Remember that thanks to the power up and all of this training, I can lock you out faster than you would know it."_

_ "Indeed, so it is. I'm just asking you not to swing that sausage of yours around, or you might get singed again."_

_ "I truly am grateful that you're concerned about my wellbeing, but I'm taking the risk."_

_ "Your call, mon."_

_ "Hurrrrrr..."_


	15. Chapter 15: An Unexpected Visitor

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 15: An Unexpected Visitor**

* * *

**-April 18th, 1953-**

"In addition to Bell, Erica, and Trude, I'm also sending Toshiro, Perrine, and Louise," Kye said as she and the rest of the attack force slowed down. They arrived close enough to see the Neuroi Base, so Kye stopped the group for a moment to reaffirm strategy. "The reason for each are as follows: Toshiro because he's a crybaby, Perrine because..."

"Crybaby?" Toshiro interrupted. "Really, Kye?"

"I thought it was funny," she said with a shrug. "Anyway, Perrine because of her area damage abilities, and Louise because she works well with Perrine in her area damage role, and because Louise developed Area Analysis between the end of the alternate future war and now."

Perrine was surprised to hear that. "Really?"

"Yes," Louise said. "Mei and Yoko both had two types of magic, so I guess it's only natural that I developed a second."

"That's great! I'm so proud of you, Louise!" Perrine cheered.

"Thanks, Perrine."

Toshiro's ears perked up. "Your great granddaughter is calling you by your first name?"

"What's wrong with that?"

"Sounds weird to me."

"Saying "great grandma" is a mouthful," Louise pointed out. "It's how all of us work."

Toshiro raised his eyebrow and glanced at Yoshika.

"Yusu?" Yoshika called out.

"Yoshika," Yusu responded.

"Marco?" Toshiro called out.

"Polo!" Yuki answered aloud through him.

He turned toward Mio.

"Pass."

"Mio is a special case," Yoshika said with a wink.

"Yeah, we call her Granny Mio," Mei and Yoko cheered together. "She gets so... OWW!"

Mio smacked both of them on the head with the sheath of her sword.

"Mad?" Toshiro smirked.

"A true warrior never loses her temper," Mio lectured.

"A true warrior just lost her temper," Toshiro shot back.

"A true warrior may make an exception," Mio glared at Toshiro.

"A true warrior may get her ass whooped," Toshiro returned the glare.

"A true warrior senses a challenge."

"I sense the obvious."

Before the two could even get at each other's throats, Kye flew in between them. "Save it for our day off tomorrow. I don't need two of my best fighters pissing each other off before a mission."

"Yeah, whatever." Toshiro sighed and fell back a short distance.

"Yes, Ma'am," Mio responded.

"God dammit, Mio."

"You technically just took yourself in vein, Mom," Kaylie said with a mischievous grin.

"You shut up. I'll take my godly self in vein whenever I want."

"Oh, you will?" the Goddess Kye suddenly appeared.

"You don't scare me."

"I don't?" the goddess said as the sky grew dark.

"Go away, already," the mortal Kye said as she slashed at her godly self with her blade. The goddess's body faded to smoke as the blade passed through, and the sky returned to normal.

"Mom scared Mom away!" Layla cheered.

"That's an awkward thing to say..." Rei sighed.

"I thought it was funny," Kamiko added.

"Nai anata no sobo ni warawase te wa ike nai (Do not laugh at your grandmother)," Rei scolded. "Kanojo wa chōdo sono yō ni sare te i masu (She is just like that)."

"Seikaku ni wa, chōjo wa nai (You're not exactly helping, eldest daughter)." Kye sighed.

"Sore wa daijōbu desu (It is okay)," Kamiko said as she flew over and hugged Kye. "Watashi wa, o bāchan daisuki desu (I love you, Grandma)."

"Suteki na hōhō (How nice)!" Kye said. "My daughters are turds, but at least my grandbaby is good to me."

"I'm not a baby!"

"You're one year old," Rei said with a smirk. "Do you need to breastfeed, my baby?"

"Just make sure to do it in front of everyone," Toshiro said.

_ "Oh, you'd like that, T-man."_

"Oh, you'd like that," Layla said.

"Yuki said the same thing," Toshiro sighed.

Kamiko rebuked them and summoned the legendary blade, Kouten, Blade of Providence. The hilt was wrapped in silver cloth. The guard was also silver and had the Kanji representing its name, 皇天, engraved on both sides. The blade had a bright metallic finish to it and looked as if it had never been used. "Who's a baby?" She took off toward the Neuroi Base before anyone could reply.

Rei just smiled and said, "That's my girl," before summoning her own legendary blades, Tenrai and Tenshi, Twin Blades of the Divine Angel, and following after Kamiko.

Kye looked around and saw that nobody else was moving. "What are you people waiting for? An invitation? We have a mission!"

Toshiro grinned as he summoned Aganaimaru and charged in toward the base with the rest of the group.

* * *

Before any of the witches and wizards got within five kilometers of the Neuroi Base, a swarm of icosahedron shaped Neuroi poured out and immediately began their attack.

"Kamiko, don't try to take all of them on yourself!" Rei called out to her daughter. "Wait for the rest of us!"

"I'll be fine, Mom," she replied as her body and sword started glowing with the same Light Aura used by both her mother and grandmother. Rei saw that, smiled, and followed.

The rest of the group wasn't far behind Rei. Kye summoned Jouten and started to fly in toward the mass of Neuroi, but before she could move, Jouten pulsed.

**_ "Master Kye, do not go yet."_**

**_ "Why not?"_**

**_ "I sense a great evil within the depths of that base. We need to set up a pylon rune ahead of time."_**

**_ "I can't do that, Joey. I'm on the team to destroy the Neuroi pylons."_**

**_ "Can no other witch take your place?"_**

**_ "I suppose one could."_**

"Mio!" Kye called out. "Can you take my place in the pylon team?"

"Yes, but why?"

"There's something I have to do," Kye said before flying high into the atmosphere.

"And there she goes..." Toshiro mumbled. "What the hell is she doing?"

"I have no idea," Minna said. "She's really high, though. She stopped at thirty thousand meters."

"She's thirty kilometers high?"

"For whatever reason."

"Doesn't matter. I'm sure she has a reason for... Whatever she's doing. Let's focus on the task at hand," Mio said as she launched a Reppuzan through a large type Neuroi shaped like a B-52 Stratofortress.

From below, a barrage of beams were launched in attempt to take the witches off guard, but Yoshika summoned several large shields to block every beam that would have otherwise hit somebody.

Toshiro smiled and thought, _Same old Yoshika._

"Don't forget about the naval Neuroi floating in the waters below," Minna reported. "There are two colossal Neuroi floating down there."

"My team will handle one," Xale replied.

"And my team will handle the other," Xiani added as both the Red and Green Neuri Teams flew off toward their respective targets.

"Yusu, Mei, Yoko, Kaylie, Layla," Mio said. "Go take care of the lesser naval Neuroi.

"Roger," the five responded quickly before flying downward to their assignment.

"Karlslander Contingent, tear a hole through this mass of Neuroi for our pylon and infiltration teams!" Minna ordered.

"Okay, but Barkhorn had better be grateful," Hanna-Justina Marseille, nicknamed Tina, said with a smirk.

"Just do it," Adolfine ordered

"One hole, coming up," Tina said as she charged in with the rest of the Karlslander group.

Several of the Karlslander group pulled their respective melee weapons, some using maces, some using glaives, and others using bastard swords.

_Nice. They know the Karlslander weapon spells._

"**Zauberstrahl!**" Edytha Roßmann used the Magic Beam technique to destroy a single-core super-large type Neuroi shaped like a weather balloon.

"**Zauberschlag!**" Waltrud Krupinski used the Magic Strike technique to destroy another single-core super-large type Neuroi, though that one was shaped like a large Dorito chip.

"**Gegenschalg.**" Heidemarie reversed several Neuroi beams with the Backlash technique, destroying several medium and large type Neuroi in one fell swoop.

"**Großer Zauberschlag!**" Minna joined in with her fellow Karlslanders and launch the Karlsland equivalent to the Zen Reppuzan, the Greater Magic Strike technique, into the mass the others had already started to clear.

"**Großer Zauberschlag!**" Ursula, Adolfine, and Tina launched their own Greater Magic Strikes on top of Minna's. That combination cleared out a large path for the others, but several more Neuroi started to cover the opening.

"**Großer Zauberstrahl!**" Edytha, Gundula Rall, and Hanna U. Rudel each launched the Greater Magic Beam technique into the path to clear it long enough for the pylon and infiltration teams to break through.

_ That was badass. Go Karlsland!_ Toshiro cheered to himself as he and the others made it out on the other side of the Neuroi mass.

The Neuroi started firing on them from above, but Yoshika, who had snuck through with the pylon and infiltration teams, erected several large reflection shields that blocked the beams and rebounded them back at the attackers.

"Good job, Yoshika," Mio praised. "It's good you came with us."

"I thought you guys would need some protection while you work."

"Good call," Toshiro said.

Just as the group made it to the barrier, two large beams of silver light erupted from the sea, both several kilometers away in opposite directions, one to each the north and south.

"What the fuck was that?"

"I've never seen such a technique," Mio said.

"Me neither," Yoshika added. "It's probably Kye. That silver beam looks like Zen Magic."

Toshiro glanced upward with his Hebigan active, but couldn't make out Kye from the distance she was at. He could only see a dot.

"There's somebody up there with her," Mio said while holding her eye patch up.

"You can see them?" Toshiro asked.

"With great detail. Surely with your power up, your eye abilities should have increased."

"They have some, but not enough to see a person at thirty kilometers."

"Try harder!" Mio said. "Focus all your attention and magic on your eyes, and only use your dominant eye at first until you get used to it."

"I'm trying!" Toshiro's vision improved slightly, but he still couldn't make out Kye, only a small dot in the sky.

"Keep at it!"

Toshiro's frustration started to grow as he poured more effort into his eyes.

_ "Toshiro, be careful. If you put too much into this, you'll damage your eyes."_

_ "Then help me, Yuki!"_

_ "I am!"_

He could still only see a dot.

"Dammit!" he shouted as he forced as much power into his eyes as possible. His zoom improved, but his sight became blurry. "Gods dammit, I can't go further without ruining my eyes!"

"You won't ruin your eyes," Yoshika said as she placed her hand on his head and flooded him with her True Zen Magic. "Your eyes will not lose their potency, not even the slightest bit. Put all you have into your magic eye power."

Toshiro's vision improved rapidly until he could clearly see Kye as if she was only a few feet away. "I can see her! Or them."

_ "Toshiro! You did it!"_

_ "Not without Yoshika's help."_

_ "Either way, you unlocked the Tekkaku Hebigan!"_

_ "Say what?"_

_ "The Tekkaku Hebigan is much more powerful than the standard Hebigan, and with your power up, you can even see almost thirty kilometers as if it were right in front of you!"_

_ "That's 'cause I'm awesome."_

_ "Don't get full of yourself. You still have somebody to thank for that."_

"Congratulations, Toshiro," Yoshika said.

"Thank you, Yoshika!" Without thinking, Toshiro planted his lips on Yoshika's, though he quickly realized what he was doing and pulled back. "Oh crap. Uh..."

"That... Uh... Huh...?" Yoshika couldn't believe what just happened.

"I'm sorry, Yoshika! I did it without thinking."

"I... Uh..." She couldn't form a sentence.

"We need to move on to our mission," Mio said. "Xala, Xelia, Xia, get in position!"

* * *

**-High in the Sky-  
-When Kye flew upward-**

As soon as she reached thirty thousand meters, Kye stopped and looked around. She had a good view of the Commanding Hive, and even though she was up so high, the tip of the hive reached much higher.

_ That thing is too tall..._ Kye sighed. **_"Okay, Jouten, which pylon rune should we use? Nine Pillars perhaps?"_**

**_ "Nine Pillars has a strong offense, but it is more for elemental magic convergence."_**

**_ "Right. Doran and Michelle favored that one in the Dragon War back in their world. None of the pylon runes were made for Neuroi since the Neuroi were never supposed to exist in our world. I suppose we could use the Twelve Signs, but it takes the longest to cast, requiring upwards of half an hour to prepare. And we can't skip the incantation since our mortal bodies aren't strong enough to power high level Runic Spells directly."_**

**_ "That's why I needed you to do this."_** Jouten suddenly levitated and floated out of Kye's hand. The sword transformed into a human female garbed in a black cloak with a hood, appearing the same as always when she takes her human form. Only a few strands of light golden blonde hair could be seen hanging out of the hood. **_"We must start immediately."_**

**_ "Right. We will have to chant the initial and final incantations together, but we each chant six of the twelve pylon incantations."_**

**_ "You do the former six, I'll do the latter six."_**

**_ "Right."_**

Kye and Jouten joined their hands, Kye's left to Jouten's right, held them above their heads, and started chanting the required incantation, speaking one syllable per second.

** "Circulum in duodecim signorum!  
Surge! Figura! Iungo! Transcende!  
Da virtutis duodecim!"**

As they spoke the initial incantation, a large circle, twenty miles in diameter centered over the Neuroi Base, slowly formed over the water. As they finished speaking the incantation, a small, bright sphere of silver light appeared one kilometer south of the northernmost point of the circle. After a moment, the sphere launched itself clockwise in a circle, maintaining a one kilometer distance from the larger circle. After roughly one minute, the sphere of silver light completed the smaller circle within the larger circle.

With the two base circles completed, Kye and Jouten started chanting the pylon incantations.

Kye started with the incantation for the first pylon.

** "Uno de duodecim venit,  
Fero tui.  
Veni, ostendis potentiam tuam,  
Tibi nomen: Aries!"**

While Kye chanted for the first pylon, Jouten chanted for the sixth.

** "Sexto de duodecim venit,  
Fero tui.  
Veni, ostendis potentiam tuam,  
Tibi nomen: Virgo!"**

As they chanted, two more circles, each one kilometer in diameter, appeared between the two base circles at the northernmost and southernmost zones of the base circles. As their chanting progressed, the symbol for the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries, appeared in the northern small circle, and the symbol for the sixth sign of the Zodiac, Virgo, appeared in the southern small circle. Once they finished the incantations, the symbols completed and a large beam of silver light shot up from each.

Kye and Jouten wasted no time moving on to the second and seventh pylon incantations.

* * *

**-Just Above the Neuroi Base-  
-Shortly after the first two beams of light-**

Mio, Xala, Xelia, and Xia moved into their positions and activated their auras, Mio using her Magic Aura, and the Blue Neuri Tribe girls using their Neuri Power Auras.

"Move in!" Mio ordered.

Simultaneously, the four descended through the barrier protecting the Neuroi base and immediately launched powerful attacks on the pylons powering the barrier. Mio used the Zen Reppuzan on her pylon while the Neuri girls blasted their targets with powerful energy beams. Nothing was left standing of the towers holding the barrier pylons. The barrier itself faded away.

"Infiltration group, go!" Mio ordered.

Toshiro gripped Aganaimaru and descended into the base through the hole in the middle, soon followed by Bell, Erica, Trude, Perrine, and Louise. Perrine and Louise, having had experience inside of a Neuroi base in the alternate future war, took the lead.

"This base is bigger than the one we destroyed near Fuso in 2012." Louise commented. "The tunnels are wider and longer, but still have as many twists and turns."

"Can't we just pinpoint the main core and punch a hole straight through to it?" Toshiro asked.

"Not a bad thought, but in reality it's not a good idea," Louise explained. "If we start punching holes through the base, every Neuroi inside will come at us with guns blazing."

"Why aren't they already?"

"I'm not completely sure, but if I had to hazard a guess... I'd say that the walls of this base are just like the inside of hives. It breaks up our communications, so it's likely it break up theirs as well. So if we punch the place full of holes, we'll be able to communicate with our allies outside, but the Neuroi inside will also be able to communicate with each other better."

"Makes sense."

"Watch out!" Perrine called out as they passed by a large tunnel. A Neuroi fired its beam at the group, but Erica moved quickly and deflected the beam with her glaive.

"**Tonnerre!**" Perrine's body suddenly flared up with her Lightning Aura just before she launched a powerful bolt of lightning down the tunnel, destroying the Neuroi targeting them.

"Everyone stay alert," Bell said. "We can't let ourselves get distracted. Louise, continue leading us."

"Yes, Ma'am," Louise responded quickly.

Soon after the group continued through the base, they came upon a large spherical room that was easily a kilometer in diameter. As soon as the group entered, the entrance closed off.

"Impressive," an ominous, dark voice echoed throughout the room. As omninous and dark as the voice was, it sounded more like that of a young man than that of an evil tyrant.

The group readied their weapons and descended further into the room. As they approached the center, a cloaked man appeared.

"You have done well to progress this far," the man said.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in the middle of a Neuroi base?" Toshiro asked, almost demanded.

The man removed his hood, revealing the face of a young man with short spiky black hair that reached just above his shoulders.

"A human?"

"Did Kye neglect to mention that I would be human, not Neuroi?"

"I take it you are the commander of this base?" Bell asked.

"In a sense." He dodged the question.

"That's a good enough answer for me," Toshiro said. He flared up the Sacred Flame and charged in toward the man. "**Shin Reppuzan!**"

The man reached out and caught Toshiro's blade with his left hand. As he did that, the girls with him froze in place, and everything else lost their color, though Toshiro didn't notice as he was focused solely on the man. "Easy, easy. I'm not here to fight you, and you are not ready to fight me, especially without Oblivion Lost."

"What? How do you know about-"

"-the Blade of the Allgod?" the man finished for him. "I'm guessing Kye hasn't explained that much to you yet. Oh well. I'll tell you a little of it, at least why you're here to begin with, but first, an introduction. You first. Tell me who you _think_ you are."

"I am Brigadier General Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss, Archduke of Pomerania and other titles," Toshiro answered.

"You also believe you are the Chosen One of Amaterasu, correct?"

"You word that as if..."

"You are not. You do have the god particle within you, and she chose you, but you are above that of the typical _chosen_ from your world," the man explained. "You are the Champion of the Allgod."

"You know a lot about me, stranger."

"I wouldn't be a very good Elder God if I didn't."

"Elder God?"

"I am Lord Mavet, an Elder God of the Omniverse. Kye and the one you know as the Allgod are also Elder Gods. You believe Kye to be omniscient and omnipotent. This is false. However, she _is_ nigh omniscient and nigh omnipotent, just as I am. Only the Primordial Goddess, our creator, has infinite power."

"Kye _is_ the Primordial Goddess."

"No, no she isn't, though she is the Elder God responsible for the creation of this universe. Her circle of family and friends believe her to be the Primordial Goddess. To them, she might as well be such."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because you are directly related to this, being the Champion of the Allgod," Mavet said. "Now as for the reason you are here, that is simple. It's to save your world from me."

"From you? If you are as powerful as you say you are, why not simple flick a finger and poof my universe out of existence?"

"I very well could, but that's no fun. I prefer flashier methods, such as using this." He held out his hand and spawn a ball of black energy in his hand that had a small red glow in its center. "I was planning on throwing one of these are your planet and watching the fireworks."

"And what would that do?"

"It would blow up your planet, of course."

"Why are you toying with me, then?"

"Entertainment. When I set my eyes on your universe, Kye came to me. She proposed this little war game. It sounded fun, so I accepted. The condition was that you, the strongest combatant of your world, participate."

"Why?"

"Without you here, I would simply destroy your world, but with you here, I can get a little entertainment first."

"At least I have a reason to be here now," Toshiro said grimly.

"Indeed. I am your opposition. If you cannot beat me, then your world is doomed. That means your fiancé and all your friends... gone. And when I destroy a universe, the relevant afterlife is gone, too. No heaven, no hell, nothing. Everyone you know will simply cease to exist."

"Heartless," Toshiro said, almost mumbled.

"By the way, the commander of this base carries the main core for the base within him. Destroy him and you win this battle," Mavet said. "Good luck, future adversary." He vanished.

Everything regained color and unfroze.

_ "Toshiro..."_

_ "I know, Yuki. I won't let him win. I _can't_ let him win."_

_ "This guy is an Elder God. What can we possibly do? If he is as powerful as Kye, then he could wipe out Amaterasu and all of the gods in our world in an instant."_

_ "I don't know, Yuki, but I refuse to let it happen."_

"Where'd that guy go?" Erica asked.

"He left," Toshiro said, his words almost empty. He turned around to face the girls, who saw the fury in his eyes. "His name is Mavet, and I will destroy him. I don't know how, but I _will_ destroy him."

"What happened?"

"I learned why Kye brought me here." Toshiro clenched his free hand in a fist to tight that his knuckles turned white.

"My, my," a male voice called from below.

Everyone looked down and saw an opening in the bottom of the room. A male humanoid Neuroi was rising up from the opening.

"Lord Mavet was here and I missed him. What a shame," the Neuroi said. "I am Malik, Commander of this base. I will not allow you to reach the main core room."

Toshiro glared at Malik. "I already know that you carry the main core within your body."

"Then come at me. Let's see what you're made of."

"I will destroy you with overwhelming power," Toshiro said with a low voice. Fueled by both his fury toward Mavet and the distraught feelings of the insurmountable odds of him losing his family and friends back home, his Sacred Flame grew hotter. The flames turned white. "I cannot lose." The white flames slowly formed a suit of samurai armor on Toshiro's body. The white flames still appeared on his body, over the armor. His fist shined in a bright, radiant light.

"Impressive, but ultimately futile." Malik formed a Neuroi spear and charged at Toshiro.

"**ATOMZERLEGER!**" Toshiro charged at Malik, and met the spear with his fist. Toshiro's fist disintegrated Malik's spear and struck his chest.

Malik stood no chance against Toshiro's overwhelming attack. Malik's body was atomized by Toshiro's attack, leaving absolutely nothing left. As the main core of the base that Malik carried disintegrated, the entire base shattered into white fragments along with all the other Neuroi in the area.

A Guardian Turtle sprang forth from underwater and attempt to attack Toshiro, but it shattered into white fragments as well.

The samurai armor and white flames dissipated from Toshiro's body. He breathed easy, not feeling tired in the slightest.

"Well done, infiltration group," Minna praised.

"I am detecting no Neuroi in the area," Sanya reported.

"I can confirm that," Xiani said.

Kye and Jouten descended from the sky and went straight to Toshiro.

"Well done, Toshiro," Kye said. "My godly self kept me updated."

"I sensed a powerful evil, but I did not believe Lord Mavet would be the source," Jouten added.

"Yeah, Jouten and I started casting an advanced spell, but we didn't get to finish. The evil vanished shortly before the base shattered, so we canceled the spell," Kye said.

"So you were basically useless this entire battle?" Toshiro smirked.

"Basically."

"So this is the human form of Jouten?"

"Yeah, but you can call her Joey," Kye said before taking Jouten's arm. "Time to return to your sword form."

"I don't want to," Jouten said. "I want to fight as a human."

"Oh?" Kye giggled. "I suppose it's alright."

"Kye, I need to talk to you in private when we return to the base," Toshiro whispered to her.

"I know," she whispered back. "We can talk after dinner."

"Thanks."

Kye raised her voice back to normal and spoke through the radio, "With this base destroyed, we have won this quadrant. Well done, everyone. I'll radio ahead to base and have them start on dinner. It'll be something special." She winked. "Return to base!"


	16. Chapter 16: A Grand Problem

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 16: A Grand Problem**

* * *

**-April 18th, 1953-**

The trip back to the base was uneventful. The only conversations were about the food being prepared for dinner and about Jouten suddenly deciding to fight in her human form. Kye promised a proper introduction once they arrived at the base, which she did as soon as everyone gathered in the cafeteria.

"This is my lovely sword turned human," Kye said.

Jouten stood next to Kye, wearing a battle kimono styled after Kye's, but instead of purple and black, it was orange and red. Jouten's appearance was almost identical to Kye's, but younger. Kye appeared to be roughly twenty years old, whereas Jouten appeared to be about fifteen or sixteen. Jouten was noticeably shorter than Kye, being five feet and six inches tall, the same height as Rei, and having smaller breasts, almost flat chested, also like Rei.

"You know her as the Legendary Jouten, Heavenly Blade of the Gods. Just to recap, and for those that don't already know, Jouten is a sentient weapon and a god herself with the same power as my godly self. She has decided to participate in our simulated war as a human, so her power will be about the same as mine."

"But you no longer have Hikarimaru!" Yoshika pointed out. "If she fights as a human, you will have no weapon."

Kye held out her hand, and a copy of Jouten's sword form appeared. "Not a problem. Jouten can, at will, summon as many copies of her sword form as she wants, and can simultaneously control all of them with her mind, though that is with her god level power."

"I do have a limit while I'm reduced to mortal level power," Jouten said. "I can't generate an unlimited number, but I can generate a sufficient number for us to wield in combat and still use the Seven Floating Sword style."

"What are her combat capabilities?" Mio asked. "You already mentioned that Jouten's power will be comparable to your own, but you mentioned nothing of her skills."

"She is the most skilled fighter we have," Kye said bluntly. "Who better to wield a sword than a sentient weapon? In fact, I've never once bested her."

"Fair enough."

Jouten floated up and whispered something into Kye's ear. After a few moments, Kye spoke up again. "I almost forgot. She prefers to go by one of her nicknames while in human form, so call her Joey."

"Isn't that a boy's name?" Lynne asked.

"It's unisex, actually. It's short for either Joseph or Josephine. Since the first syllable in Jouten sounds like Joe, I started calling her Joey. She liked it, and it stuck."

"You guys done?" Michelle asked. "I'm hungry."

"How the hell are you hungry?" her brother, Michael, said. "You ate half the food we cooked."

"You trynna call me fat?"

"You eat like you are."

"You eat more than me, fatty."

"I'm like twice your weight."

"And twice as fagget."

"You just admitted you're a fagget."

"I don't hide it either. Wanna know the difference between you and me, though? I own it. Threesomes are awesome, but you wouldn't know. I'm straight _and_ gay, bub. You're just gay."

"Enough," Danielle interrupted them. "Michelle, do you really have to go "fagget" on him every time you argue?"

She shrugged.

"I don't need your help, Danielle," Michael said adamantly. "I can take my sister."

Michelle smirked. "Lookie there! He's a big boy now."

While Michael and Michelle continued to go back and forth, Kye and Toshiro noticed Doran whispering something to Kaylie. Moments later, Michael and Michelle vanished.

"For fucks sake, thank you," Toshiro grumbled. "Now I can eat in peace."

"I kinda feel bad about that," Doran said. "They cooked the food, but god damn. You can't get a fuckin' word in when they fight."

"Where'd you teleport them to?" Kye asked.

"Not far. They're still on base, but away from here."

* * *

As the day progressed, Toshiro kept to himself. Every time he thought about going to Kye to discuss his conversation with Mavet, he decided to wait. He kept thinking about the strong possibility of losing his world and everything he held dear.

He avoided contact with everyone, choosing instead to sit atop the tallest building on the base and gaze out toward the not-so-far-away ocean.

After supper, Toshiro decided to go to the bath and have some well needed relaxing time. He made his way to the bath's changing room, stripped down, and covered himself with a towel, all without even noticing the extra clothing belonging to other people.

He slid the door open to the main bath and stopped him his tracks once he saw who was there. Sitting in the water, spaced out around the edges, were Kye, Jouten, Yami, Zen, Doran, Danielle, Elizabeth, Michael, and Michelle.

"Well now." He glanced around at the various bath goers. When he met Elizabeth's eyes, he turned around and started back to the changing room.

Before he could get there, a naked Kye caught up to him. "Hey, where are you going?"

"I don't feel like getting electrocuted. Elizabeth and I don't mix well."

She sighed. "I know what she's like, but trust me, you're fine. As long as you don't try to molest or rape anybody in front of her, she won't pay any mind in the bath."

"If you say so," Toshiro said. "By the way... I can't help but notice that this is the first time I've seen you naked."

Kye raised her eyebrow, but didn't bother to cover herself.

"Not shy, are we?" he asked.

Kye just stood there, not saying a word.

"Alright then." Toshiro dropped his towel, revealing his own natural self.

"Are you trying to get some?"

"I wouldn't say no to that."

Kye just grinned. "Make your mind up. My redhead twin daughters or me?"

"Can I have all three of you at once?"

"You're hopeless," Kye chuckled. "Come on, Libido King."

Toshiro returned to the bath with Kye, and despite getting a glare from Elizabeth for the first minute, he managed to relax.

Several minutes into the bath, he noticed that Michelle was sitting awfully close to Doran, and couldn't help but bring that up, despite Elizabeth being present.

"So, Michelle. Do you normally chill that close to Doran in the bath?"

"Should see us in bed. We get a little closer there."

Doran raised his eyebrow. "Really?"

"What?" she said. "Should I lie?"

"Wait, you're not joking?" Toshiro asked, surprised.

"I'm not now, and I wasn't the other day when I mentioned a threesome with Doran and Kye."

"What...?"

Kye sighed, and the Goddess Kye appeared on Doran's other side. "Don't be surprised. Cousinly love is more common that you think."

"So you are bi, too?"

"Technically... Yes."

"Hey, Godly Kye, you should stay and come to the bedroom after the bath," Michelle said. "If we bring you, Doran, me, and mortal Kye, we can have a foursome."

The mortal Kye sighed again. "Stop volunteering me. Who's to say I'll agree with that?"

"I say."

"I refuse."

"I unrefuse."

"Unrefuse all you want."

"Oh, come on..." the Goddess Kye said to her mortal counterpart. "It'll be fun. We can... do ourself."

"Been there, drilled by self," Toshiro said with a straight face. "You should do it."

Elizabeth got out of the bath and headed to the door. "I'm not going to stay and listen to you lot arrange your sex escapades." She left without another word.

"Well now."

"Elizabeth doesn't exactly approve of them," Danielle said. "She accepts it, but doesn't approve, so she avoids it as much as possible."

"I'm still trying to get over the fact that Kye is bi and shares her man with her man's cousin." Toshiro pointed out.

"Would it make you feel better if I said Kye and I have something else in common besides sex with Doran?" Michelle asked.

"Oh, I have to hear this."

"We both carried his children."

"What...?"

"Doran has six children, four of which are Kye's, and two are mine," Michelle explained.

"Weird factor just went up."

"Took us awhile to get used to it," Michael said. "I still think it's weird."

"Heh... Next you'll say that you and Danielle get it on."

"No worries there," Danielle said with a sigh. "Michael and I are _normal_ and have spouses and children of our own, without the help of each other."

"At least somebody is normal in this bunch."

* * *

After the bath, Toshiro returned to his room, but before he could close his door, Kye poked her head in. "Hey, Toshiro!"

"Sorry, but I want to be alone right now," he said.

"Does that include Kaylie and Layla? Because they said they're coming up in a few minutes."

"Yeah, them too. Especially them," he said.

"Especially?"

"Yeah. With what I have on my mind right now, the last thing I need is a couple teases like them."

Kye sighed. "I know what you mean. What about that talk you wanted with me and godly me?"

"I need to mull this over on my own first," he answered. "We can discuss it in the morning."

"Fair enough. Good night, Toshiro."

"Good night." He closed his door and fell flat on his bed. Tears didn't reach his eyes despite how he felt.

_ "What's the point of this struggle...? I'm facing an Elder God, somebody made from the same clay as Kye is... How can I, a mortal, face someone that could exterminate me from existence without moving a single muscle? This makes absolutely no sense..."_

_ "Toshiro..."_

_ "Maybe I should end this? What do you think, Yuki? Aganaimaru is so sharp that I wouldn't feel a thing... My neck muscles, the spine, spinal cord would give up in a split second... My arteries would shoot out my blood, my head would fall off and there... Maybe Mavet wouldn't destroy my world then? But if he would anyway, this would be better for me... One clean cut, and I'm relieved from the pain, angst, and despair of this whole situation. And if he really would destroy my planet like he said he would, Yoshika wouldn't suffer more than a split second... Poof, gone... I already cheated Death multiple times, but it seems that the Grim Reaper has finally caught up, with a vengeance..."_

_ "Toshiro, please stop! You haven't been so gloomy since..."_

_ "Since I wanted to shoot myself after my mother died? At least this time I know I would succeed if I put effort into it."_

_ "Please, please, PLEASE! Don't do it! I beg of you!"_

_ "Don't you understand, Yuki?! I'm in a situation worse than the mythical Tantalus! At least he had eternity to look up to, no matter how tantalizing! And me?! I go fight Mavet, and I'll die a dog's death! I don't fight him, and my world goes poof! Either outcome fucks me over... I wish I had Yoshika with me... I would drown my face in her brown hair, warm myself from her body, and forget about the whole world... Yuki?"_

_ "W-What?"_

_ "Help me go to sleep... Please. It's ironical that I have a power to soothe, but I can't use it on myself..."_

_ "Sure, my poor Toshiro... Why does everything bad in this world have to happen to you?"_

_ "I don't know..."_

_ "Sleep tight."_

_ "Night."_

Toshiro felt his consciousness fade, and he soon fell into an unrest sleep.

* * *

**-April 19th, 1953-**

Toshiro ended up sleeping late, but nobody disturbed him. He wasn't even messed up about it himself. However, when he didn't show up for breakfast, Yoshika grew worried.

"Do you know where Toshiro is? I didn't see him..." Yoshika asked Kye a bit concerned.

"He is in his room, thinking some rather important things," she answered

"Oh. He's going to be very hungry if he doesn't eat before lunch. One thing I know about men is that they think very bad on an empty stomach, and breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Yoshika said, almost preaching. "Do you think I should visit him?"

"You're probably the only person that he would want to see right now," she said with a mysterious smile.

"Oh?"

"Go, Yoshika. He needs a good word and something to fill his stomach."

Yoshika nodded, went to the kitchen, and started preparing an extra-large platter of breakfast for Toshiro. Once she was ready, she went to his room, but before she entered, she cautiously knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Toshiro's lifeless voice came from the inside.

"It's Yoshika! I have something for you to eat!"

"Oh... Come in then."

She entered the room, which was shrouded in near complete darkness with only the light from the hallway shining in.

"My, you have it dark in here. Mind if I turn on the light?"

"No, wait," he muttered and turned on the small lamp on his nightstand.

Yoshika twitched slightly, seeing his pale face without a sign of life.

"I'm probably not a pretty sight now, am I...?"

"What happened, Toshiro?" she placed the platter on the nightstand and sat on the edge of the bed. "You look as if you haven't slept at all."

"Partially true. While my body was asleep, my mind was haunted by all kinds of nightmares. And..." He looked at her eyes full of compassion and started tearing up. "And..."

"Toshiro..." She slowly raised her hand to his cheek, but then she was suddenly hugged by him. "T-Toshiro? What's the matter?"

"Everything... Everything I worked for in my life is on a knife's edge right now..." he sniveled. "And you... Seeing you... I just can't stop crying."

"Oh my," she said puzzled, but she embraced Toshiro slightly.

She waited a few minutes until Toshiro calmed down, but she realized something and had to ask. "Toshiro, that kiss back then... Could it be that...? You know... You feel something for me?"

Hearing that, Toshiro started snickering, which quickly turned into a full blown laughter, which demoralized Yoshika and caused her to fall into a sudden gloomy depression. "I... Didn't think I was that bad..."

Toshiro's display of insanity, or perhaps good humor, didn't last long, as he took a deep breath and said, "It's the opposite. You know, it's natural that I feel something towards you."

"Natural?" She tilted her head. "As in... Uhh... Man and woman things?"

"That too but..." He sighed. "I never told you one thing, and actually only those who read it from my mind and Xala know about it..."

"Oh, by the way, Xala told me that you were the one who sent her so fast. Thanks." She smiled. "That really helped."

"No problem, my dearest Yoshika."

"D-Dearest?"

"Continuing my interrupted notion... So, you probably know I have a fiancé in my world, right?"

"Yes." She nodded

"I give you one guess who it is."

"One guess?" she wondered. "Hmmmm." She looked deeply into Toshiro's eyes, and at his face, which calmed down definitely and regained come color. "Noooo... Really?"

Toshiro nodded. "Yes."

"Really? The Yoshika of your world? And you?" Yoshika felt as her face was burning up, partially from embarrassment but mostly from excitement.

"Want to know how... hmm... we got together?" he asked softly.

She nodded excitedly.

"We met on the Akagi. Mio took me on the same voyage as you. Just before we got to Britannia, a Neuroi attacked. You were so scared of the attack that I had to promise you that I would always protect you. Fast forwarding things a bit, on the eighteenth of August, you asked me whether I would be your boyfriend, and I gladly accepted. After I destroyed the Warlock in a suicidal attack, we went back to Fuso. But the next day, I had to go with my goddess to her realm, so I could train. Nobody knew where I went, so I was pronounced dead. It hit you so hard, that a few months later, I had to purify your familiar. But before that, I was sent to Africa, and you stayed back home and ironed out your grades. We reunited in Romagna, where I was now the supervisor of the unit on the spot. You always wanted to sleep with me, since I had my room in the main castle, and you had yours in the barracks. And then, on my eighteenth birthday, you gave me one of the biggest gifts a woman could possibly give his beloved..."

"We did it?" she asked bluntly.

"Clever, Yoshika. Yup, we did it. And you liked it."

"But, I'm... sixteen in your world! I didn't have Ayame until I turned eighteen, though I did get pregnant with her at seventeen."

"Heh... You liked it so much, that we started doing it almost daily, except for the times the _Red Tide_ was upon you. Ha, and what's more, you seem to have some bisexual tendencies, which you used in a foursome we had with Minna and Shirley."

Yoshika's eyes were now the size of saucers, as she looked shocked at Toshiro. "Huh... Well, Lynne and I were awfully close, now that I look back on it."

"Indeed. Anyway, later, during Operation Mars, I failed to protect myself, and you had to free me and Mio from a Core we were trapped in, using all your magic..."

"So it was similar up to that point."

"Yup. We managed to get back to Fuso in time for Tanabata in Yokosuka. I proposed to you under the starry sky, lit by the exploding fireworks."

"And? And?!" She couldn't hide her excitement.

"You accepted, crying like a beaver." Toshiro smiled.

"Aaaaawwww..." She was almost close to tears herself.

"I had had almost a month free after that, which we spent together, but then Adi came." He sighed.

"Adi?"

"Adolfine Galland, you should know her."

"Ah. Yes, I know her. What about her?"

"She's was my boss back then. She came because I didn't have officers training and my grandmother was in a critical condition. Also, the next day, you were picked up by one Shizuka Hattori on a trip to Helvetia, where you would study for free."

"And... What happened?" she asked carefully.

"My grandma died just after she filled in some blanks about my padre. I barely knew her anyway... Later I finished that damn course and received some new sassy equipment. And I was promoted, made the heir, blah blah... And then that fucking redhead snatched me off my plane..."

"Kaylie?"

"Yeah..."

"Now I understand why you reacted so vividly when we first met. It must have been painful for you all this time..."

"A bit... But after each sting of pain, I had a wave of warmth seeing you..."

"Close your eyes," Yoshika commanded with a firm voice.

"Wh..."

"Close them."

"Sure..."

He felt that she neared him, and then he felt the warmth of her lips on his own. At first, he let Yoshika take the lead, but then he managed to take the upper hand and press her down on the bed. After a minute of passionate kissing, Yoshika said, "This is compensation for not seeing your own Yoshika."

"I gladly accept. But how about going further?"

"Heehee... I'm not your Yoshika, you have to win me over. And..."

"And what?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing..." Toshiro noticed as a brief frown in her face. "Ah, eat your breakfast already, or it will get cold!"

"I can reheat, don't worry." He grinned.

"But you can release me already. What would the rest say...?"

"Dunno, but I won't take my chances..." He sighed and let Yoshika get out from under him.

She started walking towards the door, but he asked, "Yoshika... Can you wait until I finish eating?"

"If you insist," she answered and returned to his side.

_ "How is it what regardless of the universe, you wrap Yoshika around your finger?"_

_ "You got it backwards, Yukilein. It's Yoshika that is universally such a good and compassionate girl."_

* * *

After eating his breakfast and parting ways with Yoshika, Toshiro went to find Kye. She was outside doing her morning training with Jouten, which consisted of simple sword exercises.

Toshiro joined them for the remainder of the training, after which the three went to Kye's office, where the Goddess Kye was sitting on the desk waiting.

"Yo," she said nonchalantly.

Jouten immediately ran over to the desk and hopped up next to the goddess, who petted Jouten's head as if she were a pet.

"Hi, sweetie," the immortal said to the content human weapon.

_ Cute._

"Hello, me," Kye greeted.

"So, Toshiro." The goddess put on her serious face. "It seems you have been made aware of a secret not even gods are allowed to know. I figured Mavet might tell you."

"I know that you are not the Primordial Goddess and that you are not omnipotent or omniscient."

"Yes. I am only nigh omnipotent and nigh omniscient, the same as the rest of the Elder Gods."

"Why didn't you tell me about Mavet? You could have mentioned that the existence of my world depends on this!"

"Actually, both of our worlds depend on this."

That caught Toshiro off guard.

"Mavet set his eyes on your world, but due to certain a certain secret that would rock the very foundations of the gods in your world, I couldn't let that happen."

"Tell me," Toshiro demanded.

"At this point, it couldn't hurt, but there's something else you need to know first. Every Elder God has a sentient weapon, who is also an Elder God. Jouten is my sentient weapon. Mavet also has a sentient weapon. As I am now, he is more powerful, but he values entertainment very highly. I met with him just before he could go to your world, and I made a deal with him."

"You lured him here to keep him from destroying my world, and if we win, he will spare my world. Right?"

"If we lose, both of our worlds are gone."

"What?!"

"That's right, Toshiro. When the time comes, we will fight the most important battle in the history of both our worlds."

"That's not funny."

"I'm not joking. If we lose, he can do what he wants with our worlds, but if we win, he must leave both in peace."

"If he's more powerful than you, what would stop him from just beating you and destroying them anyway?"

"A deal made between Elder Gods is the most binding of contracts," she explained. "If we win and he does anything beyond remain in either of our worlds peacefully, then he will be breaking the agreement. If he breaks the agreement, the Primordial Goddess will discipline him."

"And the _real_ Primordial Goddess _is_ omniscient and omnipotent?"

"Yes. We Elder Gods are far above that of the lesser gods, but the difference is measureable, albeit with _very_ large numbers. However, the difference between the Elder Gods and the Primordial Goddess is not measurable. She is infinitely more powerful, and I mean that literally."

"I get it," he said. "The Primordial Goddess has infinite power, whereas the power of the Elder Gods can be described with big numbers."

"An oversimplification, but yes."

"So if we win, we're in the clear. He can't do anything."

"Right."

"What I want to know now is what you meant a moment ago. You said "as I am now" when you said he is more powerful. Does that mean you _could_ be more powerful?"

""As I am now,"" Kye repeated. "Originally, I was much more powerful than I am now. When the Primordial Goddess created us, most of us had a different name, and all of us were fully realized in terms of our abilities. Due to certain circumstances, two of us are no longer fully realized. I am one of those two, and your Allgod is the other. Due to the bond between us and our weapons, Jouten and Oblivion Lost were also affected."

"Oblivion Lost is the sword of the Allgod."

"More specifically, Oblivion Lost is a Sentient Weapon Elder God and partner to the Allgod."

"I've wielded Oblivion Lost. There's no way..."

"Yes. Mavet revealed to you that you are the Champion of the Allgod. As such, you are capable of summoning Oblivion Lost, though in your hands, the blade does not possess the power of an Elder God, and you only know how to summon her on a subconscious level."

"Because me wielding a weapon like that whenever I want is too much to ask. And did you say "her"?"

"Only the Allgod can change that, and yes, Oblivion Lost is female. She is a sentient weapon, so she has a human form, much like Jouten."

"So now that I know all that, what is the secret that would shake the very foundations of the gods in my world?" Toshiro asked.

"Your gods know almost nothing about the Allgod. They don't even know his name."

"He has a name?"

The goddess nodded her head.

"What is it?"

"You would know if he wanted you to know."

"Sure... Tell me he has a name, but don't tell me what it is."

"Not my place."

"Wait, isn't the Allgod supposed to be dead?"

"He's very much alive, but he is weak, though even in his weakened state, he is capable of masking his presence from all but his fellow Elder Gods, the Primordial Goddess, and those he allows to know of his presence."

"Amaterasu will flip when she finds out."

"Except that she won't find out. The only reason you get to know that he is alive is because you are his champion. He is depending on you. He cannot fight for himself, so when the time comes, you will fight Mavet in his place, and I will be there to help you. My Yoshika, a mortal who wields the power of True Zen, will also fight in that battle."

"Are you sure we can stand up to him?"

"I don't know that we can, but we must."

"Yeah. You mentioned that most of you had a different name?"

"I'm not telling," the goddess said.

"Alright. Well, I know what has to be done. Suddenly, I have not only a full plate on my table, but a fuck ton of full plates."

"I'm sorry, Toshiro. Mavet and your Allgod were once great friends and rivals. They even created a universe together many eons ago." Kye stopped and sighed.

She stayed silent for a short while until Toshiro spoke up. "Are you allowed to tell me that story?"

"You need to know the story, but it's not my place to tell you. It's rather personal for both Mavet and the Allgod. Either you need to ask Mavet, though he probably won't tell you, or I can go ask the Allgod for you."

"Well, if Mavet won't tell me, then that leaves only one option."

"Alright then."

"I guess we're done here then?"

"Yeah. I'll go pay a visit to the Allgod."

"I think I'm gonna go do some training."

"Bye for now," the goddess said before disappearing.

"I'll see you later, Kye," Toshiro said to the mortal Kye as he turned toward the door. "I've got a lot to think about, and I think best when I'm training."

"I know the feeling. Want a sparring partner?"

"Actually, yeah. That'd be great."

"I'll even let you pick. You can spar with either me, Jouten, or perhaps Mio or Minna would be willing to go a round."

"Didn't you already say that sparring with Jouten is a bad idea?"

"I did say that, but I meant competitive sparring, not training sparring. She would push you, but only as much as you need to be pushed."

"That's not a bad idea, but I think Mio and I have a little something."

"Yeah, that spat between you two yesterday. That might turn into a competitive match, though."

"That's exactly what I want."

"Let's go hunt her up then."


	17. Chapter 17: Duel! Toshiro vs Mio!

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 17: Duel! Toshiro vs Mio!**

* * *

**-April 19th, 1953-**

For half an hour, Kye and Toshiro searched for Mio, yet no matter where they looked, they did not find her.

"Where the hell is she?" Kye wondered aloud as the two sat down on a bench outside.

"So, Kye," Toshiro said. "I have to ask. That outfit you are wearing."

"My Battle Kimono?"

"Yeah, that. Where did you get that?"

"I designed it, actually, back in my days as Crown Princess Kye Akari of the Light Kingdom. I wanted something traditional to wear in combat, but also something that was functional in combat." She stood up and pointed at her sash. "The original obi was identical to the traditional kimono, but I changed it to a simple obi without the musubi. I can show you the original design sometime if you'd like."

"Sure. What do you wear under it? Chain vest or anything?"

"Nope." She shook her head and untied her sash, causing the kimono to fall open. "The underwear used is a skin tight body suit."

"No nipples..." He sighed.

"Jeez, Toshiro. You just can't help yourself, can you?"

"I'm a man."

"Most men have a little more restraint."

"Most men aren't me, and aren't confident enough to voice their carnal desires."

"Yeah, yeah. I designed the body suit so that it wouldn't show any private parts."

"Be better if it was actual underwear instead of a body suit."

"You just want it to be sexier."

"I can want what I want. Does everyone that wears those things also wear the body suit?"

"Yep," she said as she folded her kimono back and retied her sash. "You ready to go looking for Mio again?"

"I'm right here," Mio said as she was walking up. "I heard you two were looking for me."

Kye pointed at Toshiro.

"Let's duel."

"You're not still holding on to what was said yesterday are you?"

"Maybe, but I want to duel you anyway."

"Okay then. Do you want a normal duel or should we suit up?"

"Suit up," Kye said with a grin. "I want to see how well Toshiro is adjusting to his newfound power."

* * *

Jouten joined up with Kye, Mio, and Toshiro before they went to the hangar.

"Why are you two suiting up?" Toshiro asked as Kye and Jouten finished changing.

"We're flying to the mountains. I don't want you and Mio blowing up the base. And you two need a chaperone anyway. Gods forbid if either of you get out of control... I don't need either of you to be out of commission afterward."

"Whatever." Toshiro shrugged.

"You know I have better control than that," Mio said with a glare.

"You're not the one I'm worried about," Kye said. Toshiro took his turn to glare at her, a notion to which Kye rolled her eyes. "Either way, Jouten and I are coming to monitor you and step in to stop you if necessary."

"Whatever," Toshiro repeated. "I kind of wanted this to be a private duel."

"Nope, but do not worry. Jouten and I will not interfere unless absolutely necessary. We will be watching from a distance, so you probably won't notice us much anyway."

"Again, whatever. Anyway, with my power up, do you think you can stand up to me any better than Mio?"

Mio merely looked away.

"I can stop you if necessary."

"You sound _so_ confident."

"You're not the only one who has grown in power since the beginning of the simulation," Kye said. "Yoshika and I have been getting up early and doing some hardcore sparring away from the base. We've taken it a step beyond. Your newfound Kōjin power brings you up to my level with the Zen Aura, but I can go higher than that now."

"Show me," Toshiro said.

"Yeah, if you say you can go beyond the Zen Aura, I want to see it, too," Mio added.

Kye sighed. "Really? Can it not wait until later?"

Toshiro and Mio both stood their ground.

"Fine, fine," Kye said. "But first, I'll explain. The level I reached that's beyond is still the Zen Aura, but... a more powerful form of it. Watch what happens when I use the Zen Aura you are familiar with."

Kye walked out of the hangar, followed by Jouten and the two disbelievers.

"Alright," Kye said. In an explosive display of power, Kye flared up her magic power and brought her transparent silver aura to life. "This is the power you are familiar with. My aura is silver, and my eyes haven't changed."

"Your eyes?" Mio asked.

"Shh." Jouten silenced her. "Wait for the next one."

"Okay, next up," Kye continued. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and pushed her magic power even further. Her aura flared for a moment before relaxing to a thinner fit around her body. The first noticeable difference was that rainbow colored sparks were jumping around her body as if she was emitting lightning.

When she opened her eyes, both Toshiro and Mio immediately saw what she meant only moments ago. Her silver eyes now had the same symbol on them as her godly self, though the star diagram was silver with a black outline instead of rainbow colored.

"That's the symbol of the Seven Stars!" Mio said.

"I don't know why yet, but it seems that I have access to True Zen. Only Yoshika and my goddess counterpart should have that, but I also have it. I should also note that Yoshika has attained a similar improved state. Her Magic Aura is blue, as you know, but she can also activate the Seinarugan and induce the True Zen sparks within her Magic Aura. However, she can take it a step further to the True Zen Aura since she's had a year with her True Zen abilities."

"Just when I thought I caught up..." Toshiro sulked.

"They have years of experience over you, Toshiro," Amaterasu said as she suddenly appeared in front of the group. "A simple power up isn't going to keep you on par with the most powerful and experienced fighters in this world. You have to work at it, too. Your boost in power has allowed you to attain the Flame of Kōjin, but you have no experience with it. If you can master it, you will be able to stand on level ground."

"Do you have any advice?"

"Take it slow and do it right," she answered before vanishing.

Toshiro smirked and looked back to Kye. "I _will_ catch up to you."

Kye shrugged. "Go for it. But first, your spar."

"Let's go," Jouten said in a monotone voice.

* * *

"**Reppuzan!**" Mio shouted as she launched a super charged wave of magic from her blade.

Mio and Toshiro had started their duel as soon as they arrived in the mountains. After their warm-up, Mio used her Magic Aura, and Toshiro used his Sacred Flame.

"**Reppuzan**!" Toshiro countered with the same technique to block Mio's assault, and countered with another. "**Zauberschlag!**"

As the two Reppuzan techniques collided, Toshiro's Zauberschlag technique blazed past them and toward Mio. She quickly countered with a technique Toshiro was not familiar with.

"**Reppu Genkotsu!**" Instead of blocking Toshiro's attack with a shield, Mio punched the magical sword discharge and destroyed it.

_ "That's new."_

_ "Toshiro, this Mio is significantly more experienced than our Mio. I suspect she has other abilities and techniques that we've yet to see."_

_ "I wouldn't doubt it, Yuki. I refuse to lose this duel, however. We _will_ use time dilution if we have to."_

_ "I agree."_

Toshiro grimaced, charged in toward Mio, and began trading sword blows with her. For every clash, a wave of magic resonated from their blades.

**_ "They're really going at it, eh, Joey?"_**

**_ "Yes. It's a great battle, but they are evenly matched."_**

**_ "Indeed, though neither of them are going all out yet. I wonder who will win."_**

In the midst of their clashes, Yuki sensed that Mio was charging up a Reppuzan and warned Toshiro, but the attack never came. Instead, Mio kept the magic energy within her blade.

"**Reppu Zoukyou!**" Mio attacked Toshiro without discharging a wave of magic from her blade, but as Toshiro blocked her blade with his own, he was thrown downward with an incredible force.

Toshiro managed to recover before hitting the ground, and merely landed softly on his feet.

_ "What the fuck...?"_

_ "It appears that technique confines the Reppuzan within her blade, but carries the same power."_

_ "Yeah, I got that. I don't have a counter for that yet, so let's see how she fares with some long ranged techniques."_

"**Zauberstrahl!**" Toshiro held his blade up using it as a catalyst and rapid fired several beams of magic energy up toward Mio.

Mio responded by simply blocking them with her shield.

_ Figures. Let's add some heat._

"**Wärmestrahl!**" Toshiro held up his sword again and fired several more beams, but this time the beams were bright orange instead of the standard blue.

"Lucchini's technique, eh? Well done. **Reppu Zoukyou!**" Mio charged her blade with an internal Reppuzan and deflected all of the incoming beams. "You'll have to do better than that."

"THEN TRY THIS!" Toshiro shouted as he adorned his white flaming samurai armor, Flame of Kōjin, and prepared a single, more powerful blast. "**Großer Wärmestrahl!**" An enormous, white-hot beam of magic energy launched from Toshiro's blade.

Toshiro was confident that this technique would win him the battle, but Mio responded with something completely different. Her eye patch disintegrated, revealing her magic eye, yet instead of purple, it was glowing black.

Mio held her left hand toward the incoming blast. "**Obliterate!**" Barely a split second before the blast would have hit her, she launched a black wave of magic that disintegrated the powerful attack and continued toward Toshiro.

_ "TOSHIRO, MOVE!"_

Without a lost motion, he dove out of the way and flew upward just in time to avoid getting hit by the incoming wave of black magic. The blast dug into the ground and left a crater roughly two hundred feet wide and one hundred feet deep.

_ "Holy shit..."_ Toshiro said to Yuki as he looked upon the destruction Mio caused.

_ "Toshiro, even with the Flame of Kōjin!"_

_ "If she could destroy the Großer Wärmestrahl and still do this much damage..."_

_ "Toshiro, I think we're in over our heads."_

_ "No kidding."_

"What's wrong, Toshiro? Is that all you've got? You're supposed to be the hero of your world, are you not?" Mio mocked before turning serious. "Even with your power quadrupled by the Goddess Kye, which is to make up for the difference in training time we've had, you still have a great lack. Your sword skills are good, but the fact that you trained for a year with Amaterasu doesn't show. Never mind your power. That comes with time. Your skills should be significantly better. As powerful as it was, you wouldn't even be able to use that last technique without your power boosted. It's nice that you've learned several of our techniques, but you need to advance your basic skills! You'll never save your world as you are now. This duel is done. You're not ready to fight a witch with mastery the Ultimate Magic Aura. Come back to me once you've taken this advice."

Mio turned and started to fly away, but Toshiro wasn't done. He charged at her, but she merely blocked his sword with her own. "What do you know about my training? About my world? You have no idea what I've been through!"

"I have a vague idea," Mio said starkly. "You are not the only one with obstacles. Everyone has their own problems, so do not think you're the only one! Life isn't easy."

Mio started to fly away again, but Toshiro diluted time, flew around in front of her, and attacked again, albeit unsuccessfully. "I'm not done!"

"What do you want me to do!? _Let_ you win? I'm not built like that. If you want to defeat me, then go train! Progress your skills! Get better! Stop wasting my time and grow a pair!" Mio slapped him across the face and started flying away.

Toshiro held his reddened cheek and grew both angry and desperate. He clenched and ground his teeth so hard that one of his molars were uprooted, and he felt a strong taste of iron from the blood in his mouth. As his rage grew, so did his desperation. He turned toward Mio and prepared his most powerful attack. Kye and Jouten sensed it and immediately moved in.

Mio sensed it as well and prepared her own technique. "**Zen Reppuzan.**"

"**Tenkai Reppuzan!**" Toshiro and Mio charged toward each other, but as Toshiro was in midswing, something happened to his blade without either of them noticing. Aganaimaru disappeared and was replaced with the Legendary Oblivion Lost. On top of that, his Sacred Flame and Flame of Kōjin disappeared and were replaced by an aura of power that was dark in color and glowing with a white light and stars around the edges, similar to a galaxy.

**_ "We're not gonna make it!"_**

**_ "We must!"_**

Just before the two clashed, the Goddess Kye appeared and blocked both of them.

"What!?" Mio and Toshiro shouted in unison just as the mortal Kye and Jouten arrived.

"That's enough," the immortal said.

"What's going on? Why are you here?" Mio asked demandingly.

"Why did you interfere?!" Toshiro shouted angrily.

"If you two had clashed just now, you both would have died." The goddess touched her fingers to both of their foreheads and replayed the events that had just taken place to them from a third person point of view.

Toshiro then realized what was different about him during and after the clash. He was still holding Oblivion Lost, and was still emitting the galaxy-like aura. "What is this?"

"You have subconsciously summoned Oblivion Lost, and with that, you were able to tap into your power as the Allgod's Champion. The aura you are using right now is the Celestial Aura, a power granted to you by the Allgod himself. You are similar in nature to the Yoshika of this world, as she is _my_ champion."

Before anyone else could speak further, Oblivion Lost floated out of Toshiro's hand and transformed into a young woman with long blonde hair, albeit without clothing.

"Another like Jouten?" Mio asked with a sigh. "I'll be going now... I have a feeling something is about to be said that I don't want to know."

The Goddess Kye snapped her fingers, and Mio disappeared. She snapped her fingers again to generate a traditional pink kimono for the human Oblivion Lost. "I sent her back to the base. Toshiro, as promised, I went to the Allgod and had a little discussion with him. He has done all he can to help by sending Oblivion Lost and allowing you to tap into the Celestial Aura while you wield her. Do know that while you wield Oblivion Lost, you will not be able to use the Sacred Flame or Flame of Kōjin. As well, while you wield Oblivion Lost, your boost will be inactive."

"Uh..." Toshiro mumbled as he started piecing everything together.

"If I may," Oblivion Lost spoke, "my Master has instructed me to tell Toshiro of the past shared by my Master and Lord Mavet."

"I was just getting to that, but I'd rather you explain it," Goddess Kye said. She snapped her fingers and teleported everyone present to Kye's office at the base. "Have at it."

* * *

Oblivion Lost cleared her throat and began. "Long ago, before my Master the Allgod created our universe, and before Lady Kye created this universe, my Master and Lord Mavet created a universe together. This universe was small in comparison to the universes today, but it was a paradise. My Master and Lord Mavet were best friends.

"I and Lord Mavet's sentient weapon partner, who was Lord Mavet's consort, grew to be friends as well, having spent much time together. One day, many eons into the lifespan of that universe, my Master grew bored and decided to leave that universe to create a new one, which is when he created the universe you live in, Master Toshiro."

Toshiro nodded. "Go on."

"My Master visited Lord Mavet every few million years, but after a while, the visits stopped. This is when the gods of our universe believed that my Master died to create the gods that now govern your universe. Lord Mavet initially believed my Master had moved on again, as several other universes were created shortly before his disappearance. Lord Mavet tried to find my Master, but he could no longer sense him.

"As time passed, the universe that my Master and Lord Mavet created together came under attack by another Elder God, Lord Phantom, tasked with destroying abandoned universes. Without my Master's help, Lord Mavet was unable to defend their universe against Lord Phantom, thus Lord Mavet became a nomad. He was distraught, having poured so much love into that universe; it now erased from existence. Why Lord Phantom attacked an unabandoned universe is unknown, but that caused much grief for Lord Mavet.

"As time passed, Lord Mavet eventually visited the Primordial Goddess to ask if she would revive my Master, but as he was still alive, she did not grant Lord Mavet's wish. That is when Lord Mavet grew angry and blamed my Master for the destruction of their universe, stating that if my Master had not left, that universe would still be there. In his rage, Lord Mavet's heart grew dark, and he started doing a job similar to that of Lord Phantom."

"So Mavet started destroying universes, too?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes. Lord Mavet eventually found my Master and discovered that he is weak. That is when Lord Mavet decided to destroy our universe and kill my Master all in one move."

"And here we are now in effort to stop him."

Oblivion Lost nodded.

"Well then."

"Lady Kye, with what's at stake, I would like to participate in this battle," Oblivion Lost said.

"Fine by me, but you'll have to pick a more _human_ name to go by while in human form," Kye said.

"I don't know..." She glanced to Toshiro. "Master?"

"Livy," Toshiro said. "It's already in her name, so why not?"

"I like it," Oblivion Lost said.

"So, Kye." Both Kyes looked toward Toshiro. "The immortal one. You said Yoshika is _your_ champion, right? Does she know about all this?"

"Yes," the goddess said. "I spoke to her privately before the simulation began. She knows everything relevant."

"I see," Toshiro said. "I want a favor. Tell me, am I the only Champion of the Allgod in all of the history of my universe?"

"No. There is one other that will exist in your world before your death."

"Are you able to call that person forth as well?"

"The Allgod and I perceived that you would ask that of me and already discussed it. The person you are asking for is already here. However, there is a condition to this person being here. Once the simulation is over, and if we win, you will not be allowed to retain your memories of this person until this person is born in your world. This person is from your future, and the relative near future while you are still alive."

"I accept."

"Alright then." Goddess Kye walked over to the door and opened it, revealing a black haired Karlslander young woman.

_ "She's beautiful... holy..."_

_ "Pants on, Toshiro. She's from your future, and we don't know who it is yet."_

_ "She looks like she could be mine and Adi's daughter. Wait... I didn't knock Adi up, did I?"_

_ "No, or not yet at least..."_

_ "Uhh..."_

"Calm down, Toshiro," Goddess Kye said. "The suspicions you have in your mental conversation with Yuki are wrong, mostly."

"Mostly?"

"She_ is_ related to you. Meet Aya von Edelweiss, your granddaughter."


	18. Chapter 18: Aya

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 18: Aya**

* * *

**-April 19th, 1953-**

"Wait, my _granddaughter_?" Toshiro asked, stumped. "But... What?"

"Aya, why don't you introduce yourself properly?" Goddess Kye suggested.

"Yes," she said. "First Lieutenant Aya von Edelweiss of the 777th International Fighter Wing."

"You already know who the dunce is." The goddess pointed at Toshiro. "Brigadier General, Archduke, Heir to the throne of Karlsland, etcetera."

"Yes."

Toshiro raised his eyebrow but let her continue.

"You've probably noticed that there are two of me here," the goddess said. "I am Kye Akari, Goddess of the Seven Stars, as well as one of the Elder Gods of the Omniverse. My mortal self here is Lieutenant General Kye Miyafuji, Supreme Commander of the Joint Strike Force and formerly General of the Allied Forces, which in this world is the highest rank attainable and doesn't answer to any heads of state. And I believe you know us better by our other name, Alissa Maya."

Aya nodded.

"The mini-me here is Jouten, Heavenly Blade of the Gods. She is a Legendary Weapon and another of the Elder Gods of the Omniverse. She's my partner in crime, so to speak. Her mortal name is Joey," the goddess continued. "The blonde beauty in the pink kimono is another Legendary Weapon and another of the Elder Gods. She is the partner of the Allgod, who created your universe and is also an Elder God. Her weapon name is Oblivion Lost and her mortal name is Livy."

"It's nice to meet you all, though I'm not sure what to say when meeting gods."

"_Elder_ gods, Aya," Goddess Kye corrected. "We are a cut above the gods you've heard of. With only a single thought, I could subdue every god in your world."

"Yeah..." she said.

"Give it a little time. It'll sink in." She smirked and looked at Toshiro. "You just had an amusing thought."

"The omnifart?" Toshiro smirked as well. "Yeah, I dunno why I thought of that again."

"Because it's funny. Hey, you know what? There's this TV show, Family Guy, that will air in the late 1990s and continues on into the 2010s that has a reference to something like that." The goddess spawned a disk and a laptop in her hands. "Here, take a look. Just have one of the younger generation help you work it."

Toshiro took the disk and laptop with an amused grin. "Can I take this back to my world?"

"Nice try, Toshiro, but a good thought. Your world will get its technology at the appropriate times. Anyway, before I go, you need to know one more thing." She looked to her mortal counterpart. "The Neuroi are getting stronger. You've probably already noticed."

"Yeah, the second quadrant was a bit harder than the first," the mortal Kye said.

"The third and fourth quadrants will be even harder. As a result, your speed will no longer be limited."

"Alright."

"Take every advantage you can get," the goddess said. "I'm off." She disappeared.

"Well then," Aya mumbled.

"Livy, Aya, I'll properly introduce you to everyone at dinner," the mortal Kye said. "Though I will leave out the Elder God stuff. Everyone here is no stranger to gods and whatnot, but they need not concern themselves with Elder God nonsense."

Livy shrugged while Aya just said, "Okay."

"Joey, come," Kye said as she left the office, leaving Toshiro, Livy, and Aya alone.

The three stayed there together in an awkward silence for ten minutes before Toshiro finally spoke up. "So why don't you two tell me more about yourselves?"

"You know about me, Master Toshiro," Livy replied.

Toshiro turned his eyes to Aya. "Well then, Allgod Champion Number Two, how about you?"

"Wait, what am I?"

"Kye neglected to mention that?"

Aya nodded.

"Oh, boy... I guess I'll explain."

"You may as well explain everything to her," Amaterasu said as she suddenly appeared. "She is allowed to know the secrets I've told you that you normally cannot repeat."

"Good, while you're here, I'll explain who this is to you, too." Toshiro smirked while gesturing to Livy. "Meet the human form of Oblivion Lost, Blade of the Allgod."

* * *

Later that day, Kye finally caught up to Mio to discuss the duel with Toshiro.

"You sure did well acting surprised when I showed you my Zen Aura with True Zen sparks," Kye said. "Even though you already had your own secret in store."

"I wanted my mastery of my Ultimate Magic Aura to be a surprise," Mio replied. "I refuse to be left behind."

"Do you know if anyone else has mastered this power?"

"I believe your daughter has."

"I assume you mean Rei?"

Mio nodded.

"That's good. The more of us at this level the better," Kye said. "The Neuroi in the second quadrant were noticeably stronger than the first quadrant."

"I noticed that, too," Mio said. "Have you done any recon on the next quadrant?"

"Not yet, but I plan on going very soon. Would you mind coming?"

"Of course."

"Good. We'll need to scout out both quadrants to see which one we should attack first."

"Agreed. I'll go talk to Minna."

"Good. Get Sanya and Shadow, too," Kye said. "Oh, and the goddess is no longer limiting our speed, so we'll be moving fast."

"Really? What made her change her mind?"

Kye raised her eyebrow at Mio.

"Don't ask, don't tell," Mio said as she walked away.

"Hey, are you gonna leave me out?" Yoshika asked as she walked around the corner.

"Oh hey, Yoshika. That wasn't exactly my plan, but if you want to come, you're welcome, though I don't think we should bring anyone else."

"I can stay, it's no problem."

"Are you doing dinner tonight?"

Yoshika nodded.

"Oh, then yeah you should stay. We have only a couple hours until dinner. You were just messing with me the whole time, weren't you?"

"Yup!" she teased.

"Turd."

"Anyway, I'm going. I need to find Lynne and Perrine. They are helping me cook."

"Good luck."

"You, too," Yoshika cheered as she ran off.

Kye smiled for a moment before looking to the sky, her expression turning stern.

_Looks like we'll be kicking it into high gear now._

* * *

Before dinner, Toshiro decided to take a bath. Once he entered the bath itself, he was surprised to find somebody familiar already there.

"Uh... Err... Hi, Grandpa, heh..." Aya blushed a bit and looked a bit down. "Jesus..."

"No, Aya." He smiled. "If you want, I'll go," Toshiro said and started ogling her naked body.

Her long, raven black hair was hanging down loosely, with some strands sticking to her ample bosom. Her washboard stomach and the fitting slender waist was nothing compared to her full hips and long legs, all of it exuding an aura of eroticism and fitness at the same time. Toshiro saw that she was doing the same, and nodding slightly.

"Really now, Aya, a shame you are who you are..."

"Oh, why would you say something like that?"

"Because right now I'm using all my willpower not to have a boner, not to mention the first thing I thought when I saw you was "Damn, I'd fuck her raw anytime."... so yeah..." he mumbled.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain on his ass. He quickly turned around and saw the naked Elizabeth Maya with an annoyed frown glued to her face, and a belt in her hand, which she was making circles with lazily.

"You again?!"

"Why do you always try to molest every pretty girl you see?"

"Hey, why'd ya hit my grandpa like that?!" Aya protested vividly from behind Toshiro.

"Grandpa?" she raised her eyebrow.

"Meet my granddaughter, Aya von Edelweiss."

"Really, Kye?" she asked rhetorically. "Whatever, hitting on your own granddaughter is even worse!"

"He wasn't hitting on me, you damn stuck-up! Grandpa was just awkwardly complimenting my physical beauty... Right, Grandpa?"

"Bah! But I guess some people don't understand a good joke."

"Good is relative," she said with a sigh before turning back toward the changing room.

"What the hell is her problem?" Aya asked suspiciously.

"She's one of those people that have sex only in the dark, under the blanket, and only in a missionary position."

"Hahahaha!" Aya laughed vividly.

Suddenly, sparks of lightning filled the air in the bath. "I heard that." Elizabeth didn't even make it halfway to the changing room before turning around.

Both Aya and Toshiro summoned their blades, with Toshiro silently wondering about Aya's sword. The two faced Elizabeth as she walked toward Toshiro.

Elizabeth held out her left hand and summoned her own blade, sheathed in a light blue saya. She spoke the name, "Raiden, the Thunder Blade," as started the draw the blade, but a pair of arms wrapped around Elizabeth, binding her arms and causing her to drop her sword, which disappeared the moment it left her grasp.

Doran, clothed in only his jeans, pulled Elizabeth around and threw her toward the door, where Danielle was waiting to grab her.

"Elizabeth, you could have killed them!" Danielle scolded. "What were you thinking, using lightning in a bath area?"

Danielle pulled Elizabeth into the changing room and closed the door.

Doran turned toward Toshiro and Aya. "Sorry about that."

"The redhead said the blonde could have killed us with her lightning," Aya said. "I don't know if she was joking or full of it, but Grandpa and I are pretty strong."

"Take my word for it, you would have died if those lightning sparks arced over the water," Doran said.

"Okay, are _you_ joking or full of it?"

"Aya, he's not joking," Toshiro said. "For some reason, Doran, Elizabeth, and the other three are a lot more powerful than they should be."

"We're mortals, just like you, so our power isn't limited unless we are fighting the Neuroi." Doran said.

"But if you're mortals, then you can't be _that_ much more powerful. I've been training for a while now," Aya argued.

"As it stands, I'm over three _million_ times more powerful than you, Aya, and _ten_ million times more powerful than Toshiro at his base and if I include his boost I'm two-point-five million times higher. And before either of you assume that I'm exaggerating or guessing, don't. That was a literal statement. I've measured your magic power and divided it into my own. The blonde and redheads you just saw are Elizabeth, Danielle, and Michelle, in the order you saw them. Their powers aren't as high as mine, but they aren't far from it either," Doran explained. "I don't mean to sound like an ass or anything, but please don't rile up Elizabeth. She could very well kill you by accident. I've been trying to keep her from crossing paths with you, Toshiro, but I can't keep her on a leash all the time."

"You shouldn't _have_ to keep her on a leash," he said. "Why does she even bother?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I don't know. She's just like that."

Toshiro just sighed, dismissed Aganaimaru, and jumped into the water.

"By the way," Doran said before turning toward the changing room. "Aya, congratulations on Hikarimaru. It's not often that a Legendary Weapon will acknowledge a mortal so well, especially Hikarimaru. She's a little temperamental."

"She?" Aya asked curiously while looking at the blade.

Doran grinned. "Try talking to her. All Legendary Weapons are sentient-slash-sapient and have a human form, though most just prefer their weapon forms."

"Oh, I will, thanks."

"You might want to wait until after the bath, though. Hikarimaru isn't fond of public baths," he said as he headed toward the changing room. Aya dismissed Hikarimaru and jumped into the water.

As Doran left, Francesca popped in. "I missed the fun!" She spied Toshiro at first, then her attention quickly changed and glued to Aya. "Oh, I spy with my little eye!"

Toshiro immediately took a stance and re-summoned Aganaimaru. "Oh hell no. Scoot!"

"Baww, what's with the foul humor?" Francesca pouted playfully before giving him a sly smile. "Wanting to hog her all for your own, Toshiro? Gimme a feel!"

"She's my fucking granddaughter, you damn boob devil!"

"Granddaughter?!" Francesca's spawn, Luciana, suddenly peeked out from behind Francesca. "Woah, lemme have a feel too!"

"Wah, Grandpa, help me!" Aya shouted as she also re-summoned her blade.

"What a ruckus!" Kye said as she walked in. "Here I thought I would take a bath in peace before dinner, having just returned from a recon mission, but alas I was wrong. Not a dull moment, at least." She sighed as she walked closer to the bath. "You might as well let them size you up. They'll try until you do."

"But..." she mumbled.

"They'll only do it once." Kye glared at the two Lucchinis. "Right?"

They nodded.

"Hell no!" Toshiro shouted. "They don't need to even once!"

"Do you really want them to prowl around waiting for the opportune moment?"

"It's fine, but just once!" Aya gave in. "And only once, and only for these two. Nobody else! Man... And I thought that giving into Giulietta was enough."

"Whozat?" Toshiro asked, while still shooting angry glares and waving his sword towards the two Lucchinis.

"Our Lucchini's granddaughter, a declared but struggling lesbian."

"You sure have _colorful_ squad mates in that future of yours..." Toshiro mumbled and dispelled his sword. "Have at it, however wrong it sounds coming from my mouth."

"Not that your permission is needed," Kye said before glancing to the two Lucchini girls. "Two seconds each."

Aya braced herself as Francesca and Luciana bolted toward her.

"By the way, Aya, if you reverse it on them, you'll gain their respect."

* * *

**-April 20th, 1953-**

The rest of that night went by smoothly, and after breakfast the next morning, Kye called Aya to her office.

"Yes, Ma'am?"

"You know better."

"Oh, sorry. Yes, Alissa?"

Kye smiled. "The way we've been doing things so far is we've been having a mission day followed by a rest day. As it happens, today is a mission day. I wanted to know if you'd like to come observe."

"Just observe?"

"Yes. You are not acquainted with the level we fight at here. I want you to come observe so that you can see how we fight and adjust accordingly. Unlike in your world, nobody is holding back here, and we are much more powerful here."

"Then wouldn't I be out of my league here?"

"Not at all. Your grandfather required a boost in power to participate, but he hasn't had as much training as you. Although he _has_ been trained by Amaterasu, he doesn't have the training the godly me gave you in your world. You are actually quite a bit stronger than he is without his boost, and you even have your Final Art, which he does not."

"So how do I stand?"

"You aren't as powerful as the 501st here, but you have the same potential as the best of us. You will not receive a boost in power, but you will receive training to bring out your Magic Aura, which I'll have my sister explain to you."

"Miss Yami?"

Kye nodded and raised her voice. "Enter!"

The door opened, revealing the white haired sister of Kye. "Hey, Big Sister."

"Hi, Little Sister," Kye smiled. "Mind explaining the Magic Aura to Aya?"

"Of course." Yami closed the door behind her and took the empty seat next to Aya. "Alright, so... has Kye explained to you the Energy Projection Auras?"

Aya nodded. "Last night after dinner."

"Good, that'll make this easier. The Energy Auras are fueled directly by your raw energy, whereas the Magic Aura is fueled by both your raw energy and your magic power in perfect unison. In reality, there is no upper limit to the Magic Aura. The more powerful you become, the more powerful your Magic Aura grows. Even though you are from a different world, it works the same. Your Allgod and Kye allowed me to make sure of that."

"I might add that Ultimate Magic Abilities and Final Arts are the same thing with different names," Kye added.

Aya nodded.

"Yami, what about the Ultimate Magic Aura?" Kye asked.

"Ah, yes. That is the highest state a normal witch can attain. It only comes after the witch masters her Ultimate and her Magic Aura. The witch then must train to use them together and eventually combine them. Using them together gives a big boost, up to double your normal power, but combining them into the Ultimate Magic Aura will take you even higher."

"Mio pulled that out in her duel against Toshiro."

"Indeed," Yami said. "Mio is very dedicated. So far, not including the immortals, only you, Yoshika, Mio, and Rei have attained such a level, and all of you recently. Anyway, moving on. Aya, with how smart you are, I can't see it taking you more than a day to learn the Magic Aura, and perhaps another couple days to master it. I've seen how quick of a study you are."

"Thank you."

"So," Kye said. "I want you to master the Magic Aura and..."

"Actually," Aya interrupted. "Judging from your explanation, I already have such an ability. I learned it while training with Alissa, the other Kye, in my world, though she told me to keep it a secret unless it was absolutely necessary to use it."

"Well then. Other me failed to mention that..."

"Even better," Yami said. "Since you know your Final Art as well, we can move directly to Ultimate Magic Aura training."

Aya's eyes lit up. "I'd love that!"

Yami gave her a thumbs up. "What say we get started right away?"

"Yes!"

Kye sighed. "I hate to say no to that, but the mission, Yami."

"I got excited." Yami shrugged.

"Anyway, Aya, since you're coming I won't forbid you from fighting. If you wish to fight, you may, but you can get a sense of our level of power if you just watch. It's up to you."

"I will probably do a bit of both. I'll watch for a little while, then join in."

"That would actually work out better. Get a good measure in theory, then put it to practical use right away. Alright, sounds like a plan. Both of you go get ready. The briefing is in thirty minutes."

"Roger!"


	19. Chapter 19: Awaken

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 19: Awaken**

* * *

**-April 20th, 1953-**

"Why are you taking us to the other continent?" Toshiro asked with a slight hint of anger in his voice. "We have a mission in less than two hours."

"Yeah, and it takes an hour per trip between bases which would mean we will be late for the mission," Kye added. "I'm not doing this without a reason."

Kye, Yoshika, Toshiro, and Aya were in the middle of flying. Kye was leading Toshiro and Aya to the first continent, where she said she had a surprise waiting for them.

That still didn't stop Toshiro from being suspicious. "What is that reason?"

"You'll see when we get there," she answered blankly.

"Grandpa, you should trust her," Aya said. "Alissa has always helped me in the past."

"Who's Alissa?"

"That's my married name," Kye told him. "It's the name that's on my papers in Doran's world. I don't look Fusojin, or in that world it's called Japanese, so we adopted a Liberian or American name and I took his last name. It passes for Karlslander-slash-German, too."

Toshiro sighed. "You are the most complicated person..."

"Indeed."

"Kye, didn't you tell me once that the Realm of Light is part of Doran's world?" Yoshika asked.

"Yeah, it is, and I see where you're going with this. The Earth you live on is in its own universe. Your world is completely separate from the Realm of Light, though the history you know that the two share is true, including about how Yuko Miyafuji got here."

"Wait, you said that your universe is on the line, too," Toshiro said. "You have _two_ universes?"

"Yes, I have many, however the Seven Stars is not my own creation. Yoshika's universe _is _mine. And although this planet exists within the Seven Stars, specifically the God Realm, the same rules from Yoshika's universe apply here as well. Mavet and my godly self decided that the simulation should take place outside of either of the universes that are at stake."

"So does that pantheon of gods from before govern Yoshika's universe or the Seven Stars?"

"Both, although they didn't start watching Yoshika's universe until I took Yuko Miyafuji there."

"I see."

"I'm kind of lost," Aya said. "I don't know anything about all of this."

"Then let's fix that," the Goddess Kye said after suddenly appearing, flying alongside Aya. She touched a finger to Aya's head and relayed all of the knowledge Aya needed directly into her mind. "That will cover the relevant history of roughly the past ten thousand years."

"Thank..." Before Aya could finish, the goddess had already disappeared.

**_"I'm waiting."_** All four of them heard the goddess's voice in their heads.

"What the...?" Aya mumbled as she realized from the knowledge she had just gained that she should speak in her mind. **_"Like this?"_**

**_ "Yes, yes! You picked up on it much quicker than your grandfather."_**

**_ "I heard that,"_** Toshiro said telepathically with a pout in his mind's voice.

**_ "Really now? I never would have guessed."_**

**_ "Just shut up and go somewhere."_**

**_ "I did. Would you like to know what I'm doing?"_**

**_ "Playing with yourself,"_** Toshiro grinned.

The mortal Kye glanced over at him with a raised eyebrow before laughing.

**_ "What? Wait... Why do I...?"_** He looked down at his chest and saw that it was plump. He mentally sighed. **_"Oy vey."_**

Aya glanced over at him as well and saw what had happened. **_"What the...?"_**

**_ "It would see that you have an additional grandmother now, Aya,"_** Kye said.

**_ "You four can take this back to vocal conversation now."_** The goddess said. **_ "I'm cutting the telepathic communication now."_**

"GODS DAMNIT." Toshiro shouted. "Why the fuck in the middle of...?" He stopped short after suddenly feeling a pair of hands on his chest. The culprit was Yoshika.

"Heehee, my counterpart in your world would like this."

"Grandma...?" Aya looked at her with wide eyes.

"Wait, what did you just call me?"

"Um, if you're Yoshika Miyafuji, then you're my grandma... In my world that is. Somewhat. Damn complicated multiverse bullshit..."

"Oh right, you just called Toshiro "Grandpa" right now... Say, Toshiko, so that means everything went well and we married! I mean you and your Yoshika that is..." She blushed slightly.

"Well, at least that's ensuring..."

"It's ensuring for that possible future, anyway," Kye added. "Other possible futures include you dying in the Second Neuroi War."

"Gee, thanks for that, Kye." Toshiro sighed.

Kye just grinned and gave him a victory sign while Yoshika continued groping him.

"Umm... But Grandma, why are you groping my... grandwhatevernow?"

"Oh what, didn't you know?" Yoshika asked curiously. "When I was your age, actually a bit younger, you could say I was a crypto-boobaholic. I couldn't help but find myself staring at either Lynne's or Shirley's boobs, but I never had the guts to go for it like Francesca did. But hey, Toshiko here is my otherworldly lover so I guess I'm excused, heehee."

"Excused shmused..." Toshiro mumbled. "I'd prefer to have sex with you..."

"I told you that you have to earn that little privilegem" Yoshika said with a coy tone.

"And actually, why is Grandpa now Grandma?"

"Kye likes to fuck around with my gender. It's her running joke, but I'm getting more and more pissed off by it..."

"Heh, well, I would probably be scared if I was turned into a man." Aya shuddered at the thought.

"Kye, don't even..." Toshiro gnarled. "Aya, for a man to become a woman for a moment is actually... fun for the first time or two, especially when given such a body. You know, fondling your own rack and such."

"I see... And you have a really nice rack, I must say..." Aya said with a mysterious glint in her eyes. She vanished, using her time dilution to give her the chance to go after Toshiro's breasts.

Toshiro saw it coming and used his own time dilution to escape. "Aya, as your grandfathermother I plea upon your sense of dignity."

"Buuuuut I've never felt up a girl yeeeet... I was on the receiving end up until now..." Aya muttered with a sad face.

"Come on, Toshiko, let my otherworldly granddaughter cop a feel of these boobs. Will you?"

"Equivalent exchange," Toshiko said. "If Aya wants my boobs, then after I get turned back into a man, I want yours, Yoshika."

"If you ask nicely enough..." Yoshika said quietly.

"Then do we have a deal?"

"Yes."

"Okay then, grab away, Aya," Toshiko sighed.

"Itadakimasu!" Aya bowed her head with reverence and pounced at Toshiko in midair.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, the group of four landed at the main base on the first continent.

"Wow..." Aya said as she looked upon the enormous base. "The base is as big as the town next to it!"

"I designed it myself years ago in the Second Neuroi War before I was promoted to Lieutenant General," Kye said proudly. "I was bored one day and imagined what I could do if events were more ideal. Anyway, come on. We need to go to the basement."

"Before we do..." Toshiro mumbled as he pointed at his chest. "I'd like to make a trade in."

**_"Help me, other me." _** Kye said to her godly self.

**_"Go for it."_**

Kye snapped her fingers, and Toshiro transformed back into a man.

"The fuck?"

Kye grinned. "I'm awesome."

"Yeah, I bet you asked your godfart to do it."

"That's almost as bad as omnifart."

"Hmm... Kye, while we're at it..." Toshiro mumbled.

**_ "What does he want?"_**

**_ "He wants to have sex with his female self."_**

**_ "You did make him do the opposite already, so I suppose it would only be fair... as weird as it is."_**

"Alright," she said as she started pretending that she was pitching a baseball. "A one, and a two, and a BAM!"

As she threw the imaginary ball, a clone of Toshiro's female form appeared.

Toshiro grinned wildly and started laughing maniacally. "Mua ha ha ha ha!"

"Really, me?" Toshiko said. "You sure you got the balls for this?"

Toshiro smirked. "You sure _you_ can got the balls for this?"

Aya and Yoshika were speechless.

"I'm sure you both think you have the bigger proverbial balls, but for now..." Kye snapped her fingers, causing Toshiko to disappear. "You'll have to wait until later. We have stuff to do."

"I want the girl me back!" Toshiro demanded.

"She's in your room back at the other base," Kye said. "You can... _defile yourself_ after the mission."

"I don't even know what to say..." Aya sighed. "My Grandpa..."

"Keep it up and I'll have her make a clone of you, too."

"If she does then I call dibs, and I'm bringing Kola in, too!" Aya countered.

"Oohhh, touché. Wait, who's Kola?"

Aya just grinned at him and followed Kye and Yoshika into the basement.

"Hey! Who's Kola?"

"Later!" Kye said. "We have stuff to do. Now get down here!"

"Yes, _Ma'am_."

Kye just rolled her eyes and kept going. Once they arrived in Kye's office, she slid a bookshelf to the side and revealed the door to the basement.

"Down here," she said as she jumped down the stairs, preferring to fly instead of waste time walking down them. At the bottom of the stairs was a corner than led to a hallway, and at the end of that hallway was a metal door with a digital passcode lock.

"Really?" Toshiro said. "You have a door like this to protect the basement?"

"Try to break it down, I dare you," she said with a straight face. "You'll find it to be more durable than it seems."

"Yeah, yeah, just open it."

Kye jumped up and punched a certain spot on the ceiling, after which the door opened. "The digital lock is just for show."

She led them inside and saw a room that Yoshika saw belonged in the alternate future, rather than 1953.

"This is my private lab. The technology is sixty years ahead."

"Really?" Toshiro sighed. "You break all the rules."

"I took a lot of notes while we were fighting the Third Neuroi War in 2012," Kye said. "Anyway, that's not important. Look on the table there."

Yoshika, Toshiro, and Aya looked where she pointed, and saw Striker Flight Suits.

"Those look like what we have on," Aya said. "You called them Striker Flight Suits?"

"Yes. What you are wearing is the SFS Mark II. What lies on the table, as well as what _I_ am wearing, is the SFS Mark III Prototype. The Mark II is only capable of reaching speeds up to twenty thousand kilometers per hour, but with the Mark III, I field tested it at sixty two thousand."

"You flew around the whole damn planet that time," Toshiro said.

"Indeed. The Mark III Prototype is far more advanced. It took almost a year to build the SFS Mark II, but just a few days into working on the SFS Mark III, I made a huge breakthrough," she explained. "It's only in the prototype stage right now, as I haven't had a chance to fully complete the design, but it's just as capable as the completed Mark II as it is now. Its top speed and power tolerance are significantly higher than the Mark II."

"Why does it need a higher power tolerance?"

"That's one thing holding a lot of us back. You see, Toshiro, the immortals, Yoshika, and myself all possess sentient weapons, or Legendaries. Joey and Livy are Ultimate-Tier Legendary Weapons, being Elder Gods. Yoshika's Gaia and my Hikarimaru, which Aya now possesses, are Upper Tier."

Yoshika held out her hand and summoned a katana with a light green silk wrapped hilt and a light green streak running down the length of either side of the blade near the spine. "This is Gaia, the World Guardian."

The sword floated out of her hand and transformed into a young woman with short light green hair. She appeared to be about sixteen years old. The girl bowed and introduced herself, "I am Gaia."

"She's one of the few Legendaries who doesn't have separate names for human and weapon forms," Kye added.

Aya summoned Hikarimaru, which was nearly identical to Gaia, but with light gold colors instead of light green, and with a ribbon dangling off its hilt.

"Kari!" Gaia squealed and jumped with excitement. "Kari, come out!"

Hikarimaru floated out of Aya's hands and transformed into a sixteen year old girl with long light golden blonde hair that reached to her feet. The ribbon that was tied to her hilt was now tied to her right wrist.

Before she could even speak, she was tackled to the ground in a hug by Gaia. "Sister!"

"What?" Aya and Yoshika said together.

"Oh, I never told you, huh, Yoshika?" Kye asked. "You only received Gaia a year ago, so I suppose I'm not surprised it wasn't mentioned. Hikarimaru, or Kari as she prefers in her human form, and Gaia are sisters."

"This world just keeps getting weirder," Toshiro said blankly.

"Anyway, going back to what we were discussing before," Kye said, "the SFS Mark III Prototypes can handle our power when we use our Legendaries in their Awakened State."

"Why have you not been using that so far?"

"We haven't had a need," Yoshika said. "Without a need, we don't take the risk."

"We do all we can to make it easier on our wielders, but to use our Awakened States, we require the life energy of our wielder." Gaia explained.

"This isn't dangerous for immortals, but for mortals, we can only awaken for five minutes without killing our wielders," Kari added.

"How do we do this awakening thing?" Toshiro asked.

"You have to communicate with us telepathically while wielding us. As long as there is a legitimate need and your body isn't already exhausted, then we will use our awakening."

"Doing that with significantly increase our wielder's power, but we will always cut it off at four minutes and fifty nine seconds, otherwise you will die," Gaia said.

"Just how big of an increase does it give us?"

"Double for most cases," Kari said. "But if double doesn't increase it to a certain threshold, the power increase will go to that instead, which means you'll get a bigger boost."

"Interesting," Toshiro said. "I wonder if Livy will..."

"She already has," Kye said. "During your duel with Mio, you summoned her in her Awakened State."

"Hmm."

"Anyway, the three SFS Mark III Prototypes on the table there are for you three," Kye said. "Change into them and we'll go."

"Aww... But we wanna play!" Gaia pouted.

"Can we play later at least?" Kari asked.

"After the mission, you two can do whatever you want," Kye told them.

They grinned and transformed back into their blade forms before disappearing back into their pocket dimensions.

"Can Aganaimaru turn into a person?" Toshiro asked.

**_"Aganaimaru is different from Legendary Weapons,"_** Amaterasu told him telepathically. **_"Aganaimaru is made of souls of the dead whereas the Legendaries are actually living people themselves, born the same way as normal humans."_**

**_"The proper term for them is "Homo Telum", which translates to man weapon,"_** Goddess Kye added. **_"They can even reproduce, however, if a female Legendary gets pregnant, they won't be able to take their weapon form until after childbirth."_**

**_"I wonder..."_** Toshiro grinned.

**_"Be careful, Toshiro. Your perverted thoughts will have consequences if you pursue them from a Homo Telum."_**

**_ "Whatever."_**

Toshiro dismissed the thought and quickly changed into his SFS Mark III Prototype using time dilution. After Yoshika and Aya changed, the four of them left the basement and headed back toward the other continent, albeit in the opposite direction as they came.

"Our mission is on the west side of the Neuroi continent, so it's closer this way." Kye said. "We'll just have to fly higher up once we get closer to avoid unnecessary engagement."

"Roger Dodger," Toshiro said with a smirk.

* * *

_ That was intense._ Aya thought to herself. _From my own spars with Alissa in my world, I knew that it would be intense in this world, but holy crap! _Everybody_ is strong! Frau Minna, Frau Trude, Frau Erica, Mio-san, and Rei-san were especially strong. And then there's Alissa and Grandma Yoshika. Oh crap, I watched everyone else so intently that I didn't see how Grandpa did!_

"Whew. That was a nice workout," Toshiro said as he floated over to Aya. "Did you see all the ass I just kicked?"

Without missing a beat, Aya lied and said, "Umm... Yeah, you were great!" with no visible sign to suggest otherwise.

Toshiro held up his fist. "Damn right."

"We destroyed the base, but there was no commander," Michelle said suddenly. "The strongest power I sensed was that retardedly giant turtle thing."

"Yeah, I wouldn't expect a commander to be that much higher, but nothing else was even in the same ballpark," Doran added.

"I can confirm," Sanya said. "I sensed absolutely no Class Ten humanoid Neuroi."

"So what now, Sweetcheeks?" Michelle asked Kye. "We gonna figure out why or return to base?"

"Sweetcheeks? Really Michelle?" Kye sighed.

"What? You have sweetcheeks." Michelle floated over to Kye and slapped her ass. "Mine."

"You're trying awful hard, _Mimi_." Kye smirked.

"I got wet watching you and Doran blow up that turtle thingy."

"I like where this is going," Doran and Toshiro said together. They looked at each other for a moment and said, "Ayyyeee!"

Michelle started groping Kye's breasts. "I'll fuck you right here in the sky," she said before forcibly turning Kye's head to her and stealing a long wet kiss.

"Can I watch?" Toshiro and Doran said together again. The two smirked, looked at each other, and said, "Ayyyeee!"

_Whoa... I've never seen somebody gutsy enough to do that to Alissa! _Aya said to herself.

Kye elbowed Michelle in the gut and pushed her back. "Enough, you damn dominatrix. We have a mission!"

"Fine, fine, but you're mine tonight," Michelle said devilishly while pretending to crack a whip and making the appropriate sound, causing a shiver to go up Kye's spine.

Kye looked to Doran, "Save me!"

He shrugged.

Michelle smirked. "You make it way too easy to embarrass you. I wasn't even being serious and that worked!"

Elizabeth floated over toward Michelle, who immediately flew off. Elizabeth flew off after Michelle.

"Ha!" Toshiro laughed.

"Whatever." Kye sighed before speaking up over the intercom. "Listen up. We're moving on to the other fort in this area. With everyone still at eight percent or better we have no reason to return to base just yet."

"Roger!"

"Move out!"

* * *

"There, up ahead," Kye called out. "Our target."

"It looks like they were expecting us," Minna said. "The giant turtle is already out."

"Maya Group, you're on turtle duty," Kye called out.

"Roger that," Doran said. "Elizabeth, go."

Elizabeth responded instantly and flew high into the sky where she started to build up her energy.

"511th Fuso Team, Light Kingdom Team, 501st you're on control duty. Keep the main battle outside," Kye ordered. "Exceptions from the 501st include myself, Toshiro, Yoshika, Rei, and Kamiko. Those five, as well as our newcomer, Aya, will be infiltrating."

"Roger!" everyone responded collectively.

"Infiltration Team, on me," Kye said. "Light Kingdom Team, make a path!"

"On it," Yami responded. "Yuko! Hiro!"

"Yes, Mom," the two flew over to Yami and prepared an offensive.

"**Mahou Shinten Taiho!**" Yami, Yuko, and Hiro each fired an enormous beam of pure magic energy, clearing a large path through the mass of Neuroi that were pouring out of the fortress.

Kye and her group quickly flew in through the opening and entered the fortress depths. As they descended, they encountered several humanoid Neuroi, none which were higher than Class Eight. Toshiro grinned every time he saw Aya slice one in half.

When the group finally encountered a Class Nine humanoid Neuroi, Aya took the lead and engaged it with her Magic Drive active. She diluted time, quickly closed the gap between her and her target, disarmed the target, and ran it through its chest with Hikarimaru.

"Well done, Aya," Kye praised. "Let's keep moving."

"Kye, do you read?" Minna asked over the radio.

"Surprisingly, yes. What's going on?"

"Maya Group has taken out the giant turtle."

"Good. Anything else?"

"Two humanoid Neuroi suddenly showed up. They are next level powerful. Mio and I couldn't do anything against them. Yami and Liliana are fighting them right now, but they're having trouble, too."

"The goddess said that we'd be facing stronger opponents. This is probably what she meant. If Yami and Lily can't beat them, radio me again."

"Will do."

Kye turned to her five infiltration comrades. "You heard. We need to hurry."

"Mio couldn't beat either of them even though she's as powerful as she is?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah, and that's not good," Kye said, grimacing.

Yoshika traded glances with Kye, and both nodded.

The group hastened their pace and soon came up on the core room. It was unguarded.

"Just like the other fort," Rei said. "The two humanoid Neuroi they are fighting are likely the commanders for this fort and the one we destroyed earlier."

"**Zen Reppuzan!**" Kamiko shouted after summoning Kouten. She obliterated the unguarded core, causing the fort and all but the two Neuroi commanders to burst into white fragments.

"That's my grandbaby," Kye said with a grin. "Now..." She looked up from the giant hole in the ground that the fort once occupied and saw the intense battle going on above. Yami and Lily were losing the battle.

"Yoshika!" Kye said.

"Right."

The two bolted upward, closing the gap quickly, and launched a surprise attack on the two Neuroi commanders, successfully distracting them from Yami and Lily and allowing them to retreat.

"Oh, Makel, look at this," the female Neuroi commander said. "The trump cards finally showed up."

"I see, Mabel," the male Neuroi commander replied. "I wonder if they'll give us a proper fight. Do you think?"

"If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get," Kye said. "Mavet was holding out on us. I can already sense that you two are much more powerful than the other commanders we've fought so far. Even High Commander Marik and High Commander Malik pale in comparison. You two are well over twice as strong as they were."

"Makel, this one is keen."

"Mabel, this changes nothing."

"If you think this changes nothing, then you are sorely mistaken," Yoshika shouted. She held her hand out and summoned Gaia.

Kye gestured at Joey, who immediately flew over to her and transformed into Jouten. "Yoshika, you think five minutes is long enough?"

"We don't have a choice," Yoshika said. "Even at our best, we can't fight them without using the Awakened State."

"Indeed."

Yoshika held Gaia out in front of her in a horizontal manner with the blade's edge facing away. She hovered her left hand over the spine of the sword. Kye did the same with Jouten, and the two shouted together, "**Awaken!**"

Kye closed her eyes for a moment, as did Yoshika. As the two reopened them, seven pointed stars could be seen overlaid on their irises. They spoke in unison, "**Seinarugan!**" Yoshika was suddenly engulfed in a translucent aura of green and blue magic energy with rainbow colored sparks, and Kye was engulfed with a translucent aura of silver energy with rainbow colored sparks. Their auras were noticeably different from their usual Magic Auras. Their respective magic auras were somewhat translucent already without the Awakened State, but they were much more refined with it.

"Look, Makel, their eyes are different."

"I see it, Mabel, but they are still ugly."

The Neuroi commanders didn't as much as blink at their change, but soon found themselves with swords in their faces. With the time limit on their power, Yoshika and Kye had to move quickly.

Mabel and Makel countered with their own weapons, Mabel using an oversized Chakram with blades protruding from opposite sides each roughly one meter in length and Makel using a scythe with an extremely elongated blade that was easily six meters in length.

Yoshika and Kye did not let up, clashing several more times with the two Neuroi in quick succession, each time generating a powerful shockwave.

"Makel, they are good."

"Yes, Mabel, we must not hold back."

Mabel, the female Neuroi, threw her chakram at Kye and followed up with a powerful energy beam, though Kye merely dodged the chakram and golfed the beam toward the sky with Jouten before launching a counter attack. "**Zen Reppuzan!**"

Mabel's chakram vanished and reformed in her hand just in time for her to use it to block Kye's attack, albeit with much difficulty.

Makel wasn't proving any better against Yoshika. He managed to block and cut several of her lower level Reppuzan attacks with his scythe, but he had to put all his power into blocking her Zen Reppuzan.

Before either Mabel or Makel could recover, Yoshika and Kye both launched an attack only possible while using their Awakened Legendary Weapons.

"**Senkou Suto!**" the two shouted in unison as they vanished from sight.

Toshiro and Aya both diluted time as much as they could and still could not follow their movements. To even them, it seemed as though the two had simply teleported from their starting position where they were in the draw cut stance to the ending position where their blades where outstretched as if they had already performed a draw cut.

Mabel and Makel dropped their weapons, which merely shattered into flakes, and looked down to their chests. Both of them had a cut from their right breast that extended out to the left edge of their bodies. Their cores were sliced in half.

"But... Makel... How?" Mabel mumbled just before shattering. Makel watched in horror as Mabel was reduced to millions of white fragments.

"Mabel..." he could only mutter his partner's name before he shattered into fragments.

Yoshika and Kye immediately disabled their Awakened States and dropped their weapons, who in turn transformed into their human forms and caught their wielders before they could fall out of the sky.

"What just happened?" Yoshika's great granddaughter, Yusu, asked in awe.

"Was that their Legendary Awakening?" Minna asked.

"I think so," Mio said. "I've never seen it, but they've mentioned it."

"It's deadly to them. They can only do it for five minutes without dying, but even then it still takes an enormous toll on them," Yami explained. "Mortals are not meant to wield weapons like that."

Joey and Gaia carried their respective unconscious wielders on their backs and approached the main group.

"I apologize," Joey said. "We do all we can to minimize the effects on them, but this is the very least that can happen after we use our Awakened State. They'll be unconscious for at least a day."

"We'll be lucky if they wake up by supper time tomorrow," Gaia added. "Lead the way back to base. Joey and I can carry our masters."

"I'll carry Yoshika, actually. It'll be easier for me," Toshiro said.

"I'm sorry, but no," Gaia said adamantly, but kindly. "After the Awakened State, we have to return the life energy they paid otherwise they will remain comatose."

"Which means we have to stay in physical contact with them the entire time," Joey added.

"Do what you have to," Minna said. "All units, return to base!"

"Roger!"


	20. Chapter 20: Mission Failed

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 20: Mission Failed**

* * *

**-April 20th, 1953-**

Toshiro found himself unable to leave the infirmary. He was sitting in a chair overlooking the only occupied beds, one by Yoshika and the other by Kye. Gaia and Joey were sitting next to their respective masters, holding their hands and restoring the life energy their masters had lost using the Awakened State.

"It's an unusual sight for you, isn't it?" Goddess Kye asked.

"It's usually me on the bed getting healed by her," he mused aloud. "Yet here I am watching them heal her and Goldilocks. I feel powerless."

"Don't. Their lives are not in danger."

"That's right," Gaia spoke up. "Joey and I would forcibly cut off the Awakened State before that happened."

"It's not that," Toshiro said. "I feel as though I should be able to help, but I can't."

The goddess sighed and turned her eyes to Toshiro. "I'm gonna give this a shot, and I want you to listen well. In your world, you are used to being the "Knight in Shining Armor". Here, there is no need for such. It is not your responsibility to look after everyone. They know what they're doing; they've trained for years. You don't even have to look after Aya. She's trained for years, too. She's miles ahead of where you are now, without the power boost I've given you."

He remained silent.

"The 501st girls of this world are all in their twenties, even Lucchini. They are battle hardened veterans and have been through two intense wars. They have more battle experience individually than any normal unit combined, Yoshika especially. She is the one who saved the world twice. She is the one who was a hero not only to humanity, but the Neuri Tribe as well."

"What are you saying I should do then?"

"Trust her. She is the Prodigal Witch, and that title doesn't mean what you think. In this case, Prodigal is a form of Prodigy. At least while you're here, let go of your "I have to save everyone" mindset. They don't need it. If you want to be a hero, first you need to know what a hero is. A hero is not a savior or the one with the sacrifice play. Being a hero is nothing more than being what you are needed to be. In this case, the group needs a teammate, not a Knight in Shining Armor."

Toshiro didn't respond.

"Think about that, Toshiro," she said before disappearing.

He folded his arms and closed his eyes. An almost inaudible grunt could be heard escaping his mouth.

"She's right, you know," Gaia said.

"Yeah, she's always right. It's getting old."

"She can seem a little... like a know-it-all at times, but she does what she does for a reason," Joey said.

"That's not the first time I've heard that."

"Indeed."

Toshiro stood up. "Well, let me know when Yoshika wakes up."

"What about _my_ master?" Joey asked with a clear hint of annoyance.

"Eh, I don't care about that one," he said while shrugging before walking out.

* * *

"You can't be serious," Doran said.

Yami, Liliana, Minna, Mio, Doran, Danielle, Elizabeth, Michael, and Michelle were gathered in the war room discussing strategy.

"I'm serious," Yami said. "If we attack the hive tomorrow, we'll have the element of surprise. They won't be expecting us."

"But, we won't have Yoshika or Kye!" Mio argued. "We're down our two strongest! We couldn't beat those two commanders yesterday without them using their Legendaries in the Awakened State. I know all of you immortals wield Legendaries, but you can't use the Awakened State!"

"I'm aware. There's a few others here that are mortal that _do_ have Legendaries."

"Michelle, Danielle, Elizabeth, Michael, and I aren't allowed to use our Awakened State in battle with the Neuroi," Doran said. "That was part of our agreement with Mavet for being allowed to participate in this event."

"Yeah, and Toshiro and Aya have no experience with the Awakened State, consciously at least," Michelle added. "If another super-powered enemy appears, we won't be able to fight them."

"Then what the hell?" Yami slammed her fist on the table. "Why are you five even here? All you're doing is making the enemy stronger!"

"Because Kye asked us to come," Michelle said. "You know how she is."

Yami sighed. "Ugh, whatever. My plan still stands. If the commander of the hive is on par or above the two we fought yesterday, we'll have to execute a strong cooperative technique."

"If all of us go at our best, the 501st can use the Sturmkraft Brecher technique," Minna said. "The technique isn't just for show."

"Good. Do we have anything else to add on top of that?"

Michelle sighed. "You know that Doran and I specialize in the Rune of Nine Pillars and Rune of Elemental Convergence. We use them together to make a super-powered and enormous pillar of flame."

"I know that. There's a "but" coming."

"But..." Doran said. "The problem is the time it takes to cast. With the level we have to reduce ourselves to, we can't cast it at normal speed, nowhere near it. It'll take upwards of half an hour, and that includes having our Legendaries cast with us."

"And..." Elizabeth added. "Danielle, Michael, and I can charge up our signature techniques. Like Doran and Michelle, though, it'll take half an hour to build up."

"Then here's the plan," Yami began. "You five will start preparing your techniques immediately. I will assign people to play defense for you."

"We'll probably only need two," Danielle said. "The best place for us to charge up is at an ultra-high altitude. It's unlikely that we'll face any opposition up there."

"I'll put... Kaylie and Layla up there with you then."

"Good."

"It's settled then, I'll meet with the other commanders and get this plan in motion," Yami said. "While Kye is out of commission, Toshiro is in command, so it's possible that he will try to shut us down."

"If he does go against us, we can only count on those of us from the Seven Stars," Liliana added. "And with the Mayas' Legendaries participating, we can't bring out any more. We'll be in for a hell battle."

"Right. We'll have to play smart and conserve our power as much as possible."

"You can count on the 501st," Minna said adamantly. "I will not allow someone from another world command my unit."

"Good. Let's go run this by the other commanders."

* * *

After dinner that evening, Yami pulled Toshiro aside and discussed the mission she was planning. He made no decisions, instead telling her that he needs couple hours to think about it.

_"What do you think, Yuki?"_

_ "I think it's plausible. They have really thought it out."_

_ "It might be worth it. A good surprise attack will give us a great advantage."_

_ "And with the enemy commanders being so much more powerful now, using strategy is invaluable."_

_ "Yeah, and..."_

Toshiro's conversation with Yuki was interrupted by a familiar green haired girl.

"Toshiro, Yami, you both should come. They've woken up!"

Toshiro vanished, using his time dilution magic to quickly run to the infirmary.

"This fast?" Yami asked.

"Well... Just come, you'll see."

Gaia ran back to the infirmary with Yami following close behind, and they did indeed find Yoshika and Kye conscious.

"Hey, Little Sister," Kye said weakly.

"How are you feelin'?" Yami asked.

"Like shit. Ugh, I hate waking up halfway through the recovery process."

"Yoshika, are you okay?" Toshiro asked.

"We're both fine," she answered. "I have to agree with her though. Waking up early is awful."

"Why, what's wrong?"

"It hurts like hell and we can't move our bodies," Kye said.

"Long story short... It fucking sucks," Doran said as he walked in the door, followed by Michelle.

Toshiro grinned and gave Yoshika an evil grin.

"Eh?"

"Hehehehehehe."

"Uhh... Ahhh, no! AHHH! Stop!"

Toshiro started tickling her, but was soon stopped when Doran grabbed his arms. "Hey, what the hell?"

"Sorry, Bucko," Doran said with a stern look about his eyes. "You may think it's in good fun, but it actually hurts her. While they are like this, pain is amplified. I speak out of personal experience."

Toshiro immediately apologized, but Yoshika refused it. "You didn't know."

Toshiro smiled at her. "Just like my Yoshika."

Gaia gestured for Toshiro to move and took her place in the chair next to Yoshika's bed. She took Yoshika's hand and resumed the restoration treatment.

"Kye, since you're awake, I want to go over a strategy I have for a mission tomorrow."

"Going for a surprise attack?"

"Yeah." Yami began the explanation, and once she finished, Kye approved.

"Definitely take Toshiro and Aya. Experienced or not, Livy and Kari can activate the Awakened state for them. Did you work with Aya on improving her Magic Aura any today?"

"Yes. We spent about two hours on it already. I was planning on working with her more shortly."

"Good. Livy?"

Livy appeared in the room at the foot of Kye's bed. "Yes, Lady Kye?"

"Go train with Toshiro. I want you two to get as much training in as possible so you'll have a better grasp on the Awakened State. The three high-power strategies planned to counter a high-power Neuroi commander are likely to work, but treat them as if they will not."

"Of course." Livy turned to Toshiro. He nodded, and the two disappeared.

"You too, Yami," Kye said. "Train Aya as much as possible. She's a fast learner that's nearly on par with us. Get the Ultimate Magic Aura out of her quickly."

"On it." Yami ran out of the infirmary.

"Doran. Michelle."

"Hmm?" The two said in unison. "How about a little company? Get Kaylie, Layla, Rei, and Kamiko. Oh and let Ariel and Adriel out, too."

Michelle shrugged and summoned her staff. She held it out and released it, allowing it to levitate. "Go on."

Doran summoned his bracelet and did the same.

Michelle's staff transformed into a young man, seemingly eighteen years of age. He had long, straight red hair that reached to his hips. His body was rather small in size for a man, not much different from Michelle, but he was muscular.

Doran's bracelet transformed into a young woman of similar age. She had long, straight red hair down to her hips as well. Her body was nearly identical to Michelle's.

"Oooo, Mom Two woke up early again," Ariel said.

"That sucks." Adriel added.

"It's nice to see you, too," Kye said with a smile.

* * *

Later that night, when Toshiro returned to his room to go to bed, he found his female clone, Toshiko, lying there reading a book in nothing but her underwear.

"Oh, hey, you're here," she said with only a glance in Toshiro's direction.

Toshiro quickly changed into his night clothes and flopped down on the bed next to her.

"You seem tired."

Toshiro took in a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, just a bit. Yoshika is a vegetable right now and I can't do anything about it."

"She'll be fine. This is Yoshika we're talking about."

"Yeah. I hate to say this, but I'm just going to sleep. I don't feel up to anything right now."

"Oh, really?" Toshiko gave him a wry glance. "Not even for fun with me?"

"I think I'm good for tonight. Will you be around until tomorrow night?"

"Maybe. But I have a better idea."

"What's that?"

"How about some wakeup sex in the morning?"

Toshiro raised an eyebrow at her, but she didn't give him a chance to respond.

"Yuki, why don't you put him to sleep for me?" Toshiko asked. "I'll be sure to take care of him."

"Aye, aye," Yuki said, speaking through Toshiro just before cutting off his consciousness.

Toshiko pulled the blanket up over Toshiro and slid under with him. She cuddled up against him, and pulled his arm around underneath her. She wrapped her left arm around his chest and nodded off beside him.

_ Sleep tight, because in the morning... you are mine!_

* * *

**-April 21st, 1953-**

Until bedtime the night before and after breakfast that morning, Yami and Aya went at their training hard. They trained for four hours straight between breakfast and lunch. They trained so hard that they were worn out by lunch, and even the reinvigorating power of food couldn't refuel them.

Luckily for them, Layla used her Creation Magic to restore their spent magic power at the cost of her own.

Yami and company briefed everyone right after lunch, and told them the mission would be at 1400 hours, giving them an hour and a half until the departure time.

Kari sat down with Aya and the two spent an hour training in the mind to use the Awakened State.

Once the time came, everyone assigned to the mission gathered, which included Toshiro, Aya, Kaylie, Layla, the Light Kingdom Contingent, the Fuso Contingent, the Maya Group, and the 501st, not including Kye, Yoshika, Rei, and Kamiko.

"We'll stay behind," Rei said. "With Mom and Yoshika out of commission right now, we will stay here with everyone else and play defense."

"Alright. Stay out of trouble," Doran said. "We'll see you when we return."

"Bye, Daddy."

Doran ruffled Rei's hair, then Kamiko's hair, and took off with the rest of the mission goers.

* * *

When they approached the hive the Maya group, with Kaylie and Layla, broke off and took to an ultra-high altitude of over sixty kilometers while the rest of the group maintained an even altitude with the hive and readied themselves to engage.

As soon as they were within detection range, the two Neuroi Super-Carriers started launching hundreds of Neuroi drones at a time. Several more Neuroi of varying sizes and classes emerged from the hive and joined the drones in firing thousands of beams at the witches and wizards.

"Lily! Shadow!" Yami called out.

The three flared up in their respective Magic Auras, and Lily and Shadow flew up to Yami, Lily on her right and Shadow on her left.

"**Taihen Mahou no Bouheki (Barrier of Great Magic)!**" Yami flung both of her hands outward, and erected an enormous shield, easily reaching a kilometer in diameter.

"**Kyouka (Enhancement)!**" Liliana held up her left hand. The enormous shield glowed brightly.

"**Gyakuten (Reversal)!**" Shadow held up her right hand. The enormous shield turned green.

The Neuroi beams hit the shield and rebounded back toward their sources.

"Holy mother of shields..." Toshiro said in awe.

"Grandpa, you took the words right out of my mouth..."

Yami turned her head toward the group behind her as the last of the beams were reflected back toward the Neuroi. "Engage!"

Immediately, all the witches charged in and split up in teams of two and three.

Mio paired off with Minna, and together, they relayed the location of every large-type or larger Neuroi. The rest of the witches either focuses on thinning out the small fries or took the task of going big.

Toshiro and Aya, as well as Yami, Liliana, and Shadow, chose the latter.

"We have to destroy those two retarded giant fliers or we'll have a never ending supply of drones," Toshiro called out. "Aya, let's take one."

"We'll take the other," Yami added.

"We know where the core is, but we need to hack a hole through to it," Toshiro said to Aya.

"I have just the thing." Aya smirked. She activated her Will of Jötun, and a pair of obsidian plate gauntlets appeared on her hands. On the knuckles of the gauntlets read "Jötun" on one and "Heimr" on the other in Elder Futhark.

She touched the gauntlets together and generated a small shockwave. Before Toshiro could even ask, she flared up her Magic Drive and bolted toward the Neuroi Super-Carrier in her sights.

Toshiro followed suit with his Flame of Kōjin and summoned Aganaimaru. He exchanged glances with Livy, who then activated her own intense aura, summoned her blade, which was her own weapon form, and followed Toshiro toward the target.

Aya used time dilution to clear the distance in what seemed an instant and pounded the Neuroi Super-Carrier with her gauntlet. A shockwave could be seen traveling across the surface of the Neuroi before a large crater blew out from it. She had aimed directly for the core, and although her attack didn't reach the core itself, it opened Toshiro and Livy up for an attack.

Livy poured power into her blade and launched an orange blast of magic that resembled a meteor falling to the earth. Her technique hit the Neuroi and tore another large hole into the side of the Neuroi, this time revealing the core.

Toshiro took that opportunity to execute the final blow. He charged up magic power within his blade and barreled in. "**Zen Reppuzan!**" He swung his blade toward the core and fired a powerful burst of magic that slice through the core and left a smaller, more precise hole dug out straight to the far side of the Neuroi.

As the core disintegrated, its body and the drones it had launched exploded into fragments.

"Well done, Toshiro and group," Yami praised. "I'd say tie goes to the runner, but this isn't baseball."

"Minna, how goes the rest of the group?" Toshiro asked over the radio.

"We're all fine, especially now that the two Super-Carriers are destroyed," she reported. "And the high-power team up high is still preparing their techniques."

"Roger that," Yami said. "Toshiro, let's head inside. The six of us should have no problems clearing it out."

"Agreed."

Toshiro, Aya, and Livy met up with Yami, Liliana, and Shadow underneath the hive and flew in through the opening in the middle. As soon as they entered, they were met by several humanoid Neuroi.

Aya diluted time, and with her Magic Drive active, she sliced all of them in half, cores included. She resumed normal time and said, "Clear."

"Good," Yami said as she flew past Aya.

The group was met with only slight resistance until they arrived at the chamber before the hive core. A group of six elite humanoid Neuroi were waiting for them, enough for one on one battles. However, one on one battles didn't happen.

"**Holy Blaze.**" Liliana waved her hand toward the six Neuroi and launched a wave of golden fire at them and disappeared. They dodged, but each of them were suddenly sliced apart before they could counter.

"What was that?" Toshiro asked. "I slowed down time using my magic, but I couldn't follow her movements between each Neuroi, only when she appeared and slashed one apart."

"Lily is adept with Space Magic. She didn't move between them, she teleported," Yami explained. "The Holy Blaze was a distraction. The sword technique she used is a technique Lily created when Kye, Lily, myself, and a few others were developing the Kami Hikari-ryu, or Divine Light Style."

"It's Kiru Ichiren, translated to Kill Series," Liliana added.

"You'll have to teach that to me," Toshiro said.

"I can't. The technique requires Space Magic."

"Well... Whatever, let's just go destroy this hive core."

Aya had the same idea, having already approached the doorway leading to the core chamber. It was barricaded, so she summoned her obsidian plate gauntlets again and punched a large hole in the wall.

They were surprised with what they found on the other side.

"Toshiro! Yami!" Minna called over the radio. "Do you read?"

"How is the radio working in here? It's usually... Never mind. We read, Minna," Yami said.

"Emergency! There's a large attack force near the base. Our standby teams have already intercepted and begun fighting. Their commander is there!"

Toshiro looked upon the empty chamber that should have housed the hive core. "I bet that commander is carrying the hive core."

"This is bad," Yami said. "Toshiro, Aya, you two go! Use your time dilution and get there as fast as possible."

"Lily, teleport them as far as you can get them."

Toshiro and Aya nodded, and Liliana approached them. She placed her hand on their backs, and they disappeared.

They reappeared roughly fifty kilometers away. They exchanged glances and fired up their Flame of Kōjin and Magic Drive, respectively, before diluting time by one thousand times for each of them and taking off at an incredible speed beyond thirty thousand kilometers per hour.


	21. Chapter 21: Vi Et Animo

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 21: Vi Et Animo**

**Chapter Quote: "With heart and soul - Strength with Courage"**

* * *

**-April 21st, 1953-**

The air raid siren at the base sounded with ferocity as a large Neuroi force appeared on radar from the south east.

Zen's voice came over the PA system. "This is not a drill! I repeat, this is not a drill. All available fighters assemble in the hangar and prepare for battle!"

Rei and Kamiko were sitting in the infirmary with Yoshika and Kye. The latter pair were able to move their hands, but still couldn't move much else.

Rei and Kamiko bolted out of the room.

"Gaia, go," Yoshika said. "Kye and I can't fight, so you and Joey need to fight in our place."

"No can do," Gaia said.

"We'll protect you two here," Joey added. "Rei and Kamiko know what they're doing."

"They are right, Yoshika," Kye said. "If they go fight, we'll be left vulnerable."

"Okay."

* * *

Everyone met up in the hangar and quickly changed into their SFS units.

"511th, don't hold anything back!" Bell commanded.

"Same goes for the Neuri Teams!" Xala added.

Several others followed suit and soon everyone was cheering.

"We cannot allow the Neuroi to win," Zen said with an authoritative voice. "I know better than anyone the power of evil, having been there myself. Here we stand, here we fight. Here we fight with heart and soul." He raised his fight up in the air. "Strength with courage!"

Everyone knew the Latin phrase Zen was hinting at. They raised their hands in the air and shouted, "Vi Et Animo!"

"Ad victorium (To Victory)!" Zen bellowed before taking to the sky in an explosive display of his power of darkness.

"He sure knows how to hype you up," Bell mused quietly before taking off after him, soon followed by the remaining fighters.

* * *

Lead by Zen, the standby team sensed the incoming Neuroi force fifty kilometers southeast of the base and stopped.

"Enemy force dead ahead," Sanya's great grandson, Major Vitaliy Gedeon Kistanov, reported. "Distance is twenty-five thousand."

"Meters or feet?" Shirley's descendant, Captain Jaden Ventus, asked.

"Stop being stupid." Jaden's older sister, Lieutenant Colonel Allison Ventus, bonked him on the head. "You know which."

"Save the antics for another time," Colonel Valterri Iilvari Virtanen, Eila's descendant, ordered. "We have a mission at hand."

"As I was saying..." Vitaliy continued. "Distance is twenty-five thousand. We were flying at roughly the same speed, so if we continue now, expect interception in twelve-point-five."

"Confirmed," Brigadier General Heidemarie W. Schnaufer added.

"I see them," General Adolfine Galland said while using her Magic Eye to visually confirm the Neuroi force. "Mein gott..."

Minna's descendants, Lieutenant Colonel Johan Wilcke and First Lieutenant Alina Wilcke II, and Kiyoko Akiyama, who is a shared descendant of Mio Sakamoto, Perrine H. Clostermann, and Takeko Katou, flew up to Adolfine and gestured for Heidemarie to join them. The three joined hands, with one touching Adolfine's arm, and another holding Heidemarie's hand. The three activated their magic and instructed Adolfine and Heidemarie to focus on the Neuroi force.

"Whoa... "Mein gott" indeed," Johan mumbled.

"The enemy number-" Kiyoko started.

"-is over twenty thousand," Alina finished. "And that's not counting drones."

"What?" Bell asked urgently. "That's easily twice the number of the first hive and the base we destroyed."

The younger witches among the 511th and 516th grew visibly frightened.

"This changes nothing," Rei said adamantly. "They know that Mom and Yoshika are out of commission. They are our best fighters, so it's only natural that the enemy would bring an incredible force to insure they are successful. What they don't realize-" she summoned Tenrai and Tenshi, Twin Blades of the Divine Angel, "-is that they must first face the Goddess of Light."

"Getting serious are we?" Zen asked with a grin. "Good. The God of Darkness will as well."

Ren smirked while seeing her cousin and father stand their ground, albeit being in midair. She, Aero, and Aira flew up next to Rei and Zen. "Don't forget about us!"

"Never," Zen said calmly before raising his voice authoritatively over the radio. "All forces, we will wait here. Prepare for battle! I want to see only your absolute best!"

In response to her uncle, Rei flared up her Light Aura and took it a step beyond to her Ultimate Magic Aura. Her Ultimate Light Aura was nigh identical to her normal Light Aura with one distinct difference. It now had golden sparks of energy jumping around her aura similar to lightning.

Zen responded in kind, erupting to life his own advanced Dark Aura complete with sparks of black energy. "Rei, although you are the mortal Rei Miyafuji at the moment, you do have your complete memories as Rei Akari, right?"

She answered, "Yes," in an almost monotone voice.

"I think a good welcoming gift for the enemy would be the Infinite Spears spell."

"Agreed."

"At this rate, we'll be able to complete the spell by the time they reach us."

"Then let's begin."

As they joined hands, Rei with her right and Zen with his left, the two started chanting together the incantation for their spell.

**"Reach the depth of darkness,  
"Oust the root of evil."  
"Let shine the brightest light,  
"That cast the darkest shadow."  
"Chastity and Lust,  
"Temperance and Gluttony,  
"Charity and Greed,  
"Diligence and Sloth,  
"Patience and Wrath,  
"Kindness and Envy,  
"Humility and Pride,  
"Virtue and Sin."  
"Open the Hand of Light."  
"Open the Hand of Darkness."**

Rei held her left hand to her left and Zen held his right hand to his right, each glowing with their respective power. As they recited the incantation spears of darkness clad in the power of light appeared throughout the airspace in their general vicinity. Toward the beginning, they only appeared a few at a time, numbering around twenty in total before reciting the virtues and sins, but as they reached the middle more started forming with each line of the incantation. Soon, over one hundred had appeared. When they reached the "Hand of Light" and "Hand of Darkness" chants, the number of spears doubled every second for ten seconds.

Well over one thousand _darklight_ spears had formed by the time they finished. Just as they finished, the impressive Neuroi force entered engaging range.

Rei and Zen spoke the name of the spell together as they willed forward the scores of darklight spears. **"Infinite Spears of the Gods Light and Darkness."**

Simultaneously, the darklight spears numbering in four digits rushed forward into the unprepared mass of Neuroi. Some attempted to raise energy barriers to block them, but the darklight spears tore through them as if nothing were in their path.

Each spear penetrating its target and continued beyond. The Neuroi numbers were thinned out at an astonishing rate.

Joining hands with Vitaliy, Kiyoko reported the drastic decrease of the enemy number. "Six thousand seven hundred and forty-five enemy units have been dispatched. Several of these units were high class Neuroi! In addition, over five hundred larger Neuroi have been severely damaged and seem to be unable to regenerate!"

"Dark Witches," Zen said between two heavy breaths, "each Team Leader has appropriate authority in this battle. All other units present will follow their respective commanders. Engage at will!"

"You heard him, people!" Bell said. "Engage!"

The scores of witches, wizards, and Neuri Tribe warriors alike charged forth into battle, some shouting their own battle cries.

Bell and Kamiko stayed behind with Rei and Zen. They had noticed that the two were spent and had to use their remaining power to stay afloat in the sky.

"As impressive as that spell was, do you believe it was a good idea to take yourselves out of the battle?" Bell asked.

"We just cut the opposition by little over a third," Zen said. "It was worth it."

"Yeah," Rei agreed. "We took out several times our fair share and even thinned out the Neuroi's higher ranks."

Bell smiled. "As long as you'll be okay. I'm heading into battle."

"Roger that," Kamiko said. "I'll remain here as their defense."

"Okay. Be well." Bell flew off toward the bullet and beam filled battlefield.

* * *

Neuroi after Neuroi fell to the witch forces. Each team switched between systematically targeting and eliminating difficult enemies and taking out masses of drones and weak Neuroi.

Every witch, even the new witches from the alternate future who were one year too young to participate in the alternate future's Third Neuroi War, racked up kills well into the triple digits. A few of the most experienced fighters were quickly approaching the four digit mark.

As the Neuroi Super-Carrier became a problem, a team of four consisting of Bell, Lion, Fried, and Rose banded together to take down the monstrosity. After getting the core location from Mei Akiyama, Lion and Rose simultaneously flared their Strength Magic Auras and pounded the colossal Neuroi with the Trümmerschlag technique. The force of their attack shattered an incredible chunk of the monster.

Fried followed up their attack by hitting the Neuroi with a Großer Zauberschlag. His technique tore a hole clean through to the other side, and landed a hit on the core, but the core managed to survive the blast.

The Neuroi responded by charging up and firing several thick, powerful beams at the fighters, but they curved before they could even reach the shields that would have blocked them. They all curved and were drawn in to Bell's location.

She held out her glaive and pulled in the power of all the hostile energy attacks. Once they were gathered up, she compressed them into a single, large ball of energy at the tip of her glaive, and poured her own power in on top of it.

"**Großer Gegenschlag**," she said quietly as she pointed her glaive toward the core of the enemy and launched an incredibly powerful energy beam that completely disintegrated the core and all parts of the monstrosity that it touched, as well as erasing all hostiles beyond her target. The beam stretched out an impressive ten kilometers before it finally withered away into nothing.

"So we finally get to see the fabled Großer Gegenschlag technique developed by our own Isabel Hartmann II," Lion said with a smirk.

"What better time to pull out such a technique than to eradicate such a monster?" she cheerfully asked with a smile.

"You remind me of a certain anime character," Rosalie said. "Chiffon Fairchild, the Unmatched Smiling Monster, from _Freezing_."

"Is that so? I happen to be a fan of Miss Chiffon." Bell's expression suddenly turned serious and her eyes narrowed as a humanoid Neuroi, different from the rest, appeared in front of the group. She immediately knew what it was and quickly spoke over the radio. "All witches with Magic Antenna abilities, listen carefully and respond in haste. The enemy commander has appeared, and we are no match for her. Relay this to our attack force in the northwest immediately."

"That was fast." The commander eyed Bell. "You have great leadership qualities."

"I do what I must."

"I am High Commander Mavis. I overlook the forces of the northwest hive. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"I'd like to say I'm pleased as well, but I have a more appropriate word in mind."

"Oh? What's that?"

"Screwed."

"Ah." The Neuroi nodded. "Indeed. Fear not yet. I have no interest in indiscriminately slaughtering your forces. That's much too boring, and there is no honor in that. I would much rather search for one that can stand up to me... Or at least the one that can come closest.

"I see. Unfortunately, our strongest are currently unable to fight."

"Yes, I know of the Prodigal Witch and the mortal form of the Seven Stars Goddess." The Neuroi sighed, as one does. "I would have preferred to fight either of them, but I do have orders from Lord Mavet. Those orders are to eliminate those two while they lie helplessly in bed, as dishonorable as that is. However, I can at least allow you to produce your next best combatant."

"An oddity you are, but I respect that," Bell said calmly, her expression easing. "I'm afraid our next best fighters are currently too exhausted to fight. You would easily defeat them."

"Is there none that can fill the position?"

"None better than the few in front of you, and I'm afraid we are no match for you. Not even close."

"That's unfortunate." Mavis raised her arm and began to charge an attack. "If you can, I suggest you survive this."

"Wait!" Kamiko shouted as she flew up between Bell and Maris. "Bell, _I_ will fight."

Mavis adjusted her aim toward Kamiko. "Then you will be recipient of my attention. Survive this please."

Kamiko only gave Mavis a blank expression before summoning her Legendary Weapon, Kouten, and activating the same Light Aura with golden sparks that her mother had used earlier.

"At your current level, you still do not have enough power to stand against my attack," Mavis said.

"Hit me with your best shot," Kamiko said in a monotone voice.

Mavis released her small, but intense blast of energy.

Kamiko didn't move. She muttered a single word, "**Awaken,**" before swatting the beam to the sky with ease. Kamiko's Light Aura with golden sparks was now much more intense. Her aura was now more translucent, the sparks were more defined resembling proper lightning, and a light golden circle appeared on her eye's silver irises.

"Impressive. The Awakened State. This will be a grand battle."

* * *

Just as Kamiko and Mavis began their battle, Toshiro and Aya were approaching at an incredible speed of over thirty thousand kilometers per hour. The two were more than determined to reach the battlefield.

Rei could only watch in horror as her daughter fought the overpowered Neuroi. Kamiko's power was incredible on its own, and doubly so with the Awakened State, but she was unable to deal any lasting damage to Mavis.

The two exchanged blow after devastating blow. Due to Kamiko's superior skills, she often was able to land a hit on Mavis, but Mavis's superior power and regeneration virtually negated Kamiko's efforts.

**_ "One minute has passed, Master Kamiko."_**

**_ "Yes, Kouten. I have a maximum of four minutes remaining."_**

**_ "I will forcibly shut off the Awakened State five seconds before time is up."_**

**_ "I know. Thank you."_**

Kamiko quickly formulated a plan that she hoped would be enough to take down Mavis. She quickly formed a ball of light energy in her free hand, threw it to the right, and successively formed another that she threw to her left. Each ball split apart several times and soon formed a spherical shape out of light orbs.

Mavis glanced around, wondering what Kamiko was up to. Confident that she would come out victorious, she simply floated in place and waited.

Seeing that Mavis became passive, Kamiko kicked it into high gear. She had planned to skip the incantation to the spell she was casting, but with the opportunity to perform it properly, she took a few extra seconds.

**"Light from above,  
"Light from below."  
"Light that shines,  
"With golden glow."  
"Come forth now,  
"The light's bestow."  
"I invoke thy power,  
"Destroy thy foe!"**

As she finished the incantation, the many balls of light joined together in a solid sphere. ** "Sanctum of the Light Goddess!"**

In an instant, the enormous sphere of light contracted upon Mavis, resulting in a bright flash of light. Kamiko didn't even wait to see the results before launching her finishing technique. She held Kouten at arm's length and poured all her power into the blade.

"**Seiken no Choushinsei (Supernova of the Holy Sword)**!"

Kamiko launched a small blast of light magic toward her enemy, and upon making contact she willed the attack to detonate. The relatively small burst of light exploded with astounding magnitude. The shockwaves generated shook everything within a five kilometer radius as if the air itself was struck by an incredible earthquake.

**_ "Two and a half minutes remaining."_**

**_ "Thank you, Kouten."_**

As the light faded, and the dust and vapor cleared from the surrounding area, it seemed as though Kamiko had won. She still sensed Mavis's presence, however, hidden within the remaining cloud of dust and vapor.

"**Kousen**!" Kamiko launched a powerful beam of light magic from her free hand.

Just as the beam approached its target, the cloud was blown away and Mavis swatted the beam upward into the sky where it harmlessly dissipated.

**_ "One and a half minutes remaining."_**

"Well done," Mavis praised. "That was a very impressive display. Executing two extremely advanced techniques back to back such as you did is not a feat to laugh at. However," she paused for a moment, "our little game must come to a close. Die with honor, my incredible adversary."

Mavis charged forward, quickly grabbed Kamiko's right wrist before she could react, and pushed her arm around until Kouten pierced Kamiko's chest. Mavis pushed Kouten through her until the guard was pushed up against her left breast.

Kamiko coughed up blood as she fell from the sky.

* * *

**-Rei's Flashback-  
-Five Minutes Prior-**

Rei gritted her teeth as she saw the Neuroi commander arrive.

_ I can't believe the power I'm sensing from that monster. I never imagined that the commander would stray this far from the hive. The commanders that Mom and Yoshika defeated yesterday were strong enough, but this one is on a completely higher level._

Kamiko started to fly off toward the Neuroi, but she was held back when Rei grabbed her hand.

"No!" Rei hissed at her. "You can't go. That one is too strong even with the Awakened State."

"We don't have a choice!" Kamiko jerked her wrist free and took off toward the battlefield.

"Kamiko!" Rei yelled after her daughter, but her cry fell upon deaf ears.

* * *

**-Present-**

Kamiko struggled to stay conscious, having her own blade ran through her chest. She coughed up blood and her vision blurred. She couldn't distinguish the cries from her comrades or the telepathic cries from Kouten.

The only thing that kept her conscious was the cry from her mother. "KAMIKO!"

Rei screamed as she flew toward her falling daughter. She wasn't the only one. Just before Rei caught up to Kamiko, Aya appeared and caught the girl.

"Aya?!" Rei gasped with tears flowing down the sides of her face.

Toshiro appeared next to them with clenched fists and an expression beyond anger.

"Take her," Aya said as she handed over Kamiko. After Kamiko was safely in Rei's arms, Aya reached for Kouten's hilt, but as she grabbed it, Kari materialized and stopped Aya from pulling out the blade.

"If you do that too quickly, she'll die," Kari said. "Use your healing magic with Magic Drive. Amp it up as much as possible."

"We'll help!" a sixteen year old Fusojin witch said as she flew over with similarly aged Fusojin wizard. Yusu flew over as well.

"I'm Colonel Yoshika "Yusu" Miyafuji II, great granddaughter of Yoshika Miyafuji," Yusu said. "These are Second Lieutenants Rika Miyafuji and Haru Miyafuji, my younger siblings. All three of us are skilled in the same healing magic as Yoshika."

The three simultaneously activated her Healing Magic Auras and blanketed Kamiko in healing magic.

Kari pulled Aya's hand from the blade. "You, too. The blade is piercing her heart. The only thing keeping her alive is her Awakened State. This has to be done before her five minutes are up, or we'll lose her. We have thirty seconds."

Aya activated her Magic Drive and added her healing powers to the pool. Kari slowly pulled out the blade, allowing the healing magic to restore Kamiko's damaged tissue slowly but surely.

"Twenty seconds," Kari said.

She continued to pull the blade. It was almost out when Kouten forcibly cut off the Awakened State. Kari quickly removed the rest of the blade, and blood gushed out of Kamiko's open wound for a split second before the four healers fully repaired the last remaining damage.

Kamiko coughed up more blood and said, "Kaka... (Mama...)" before falling unconscious in Rei's arms, her mother crying.

Yusu breathed a sigh of relief, and Rika and Haru exchanged glances. "That was intense," they said together.

Kouten materialized into her human form, which greatly resembled her master's appearance with the exception of her wearing a light purple battle kimono instead of a light green Striker Flight Suit. Kouten quickly thanked Kamiko's saviors before taking her from Rei's arms.

"Will she be okay?" Rei asked frantically.

Kouten nodded. "Yes. Due to the circumstances, I waited until one second to cut off the Awakened State. If our healing friends were a moment slower or if I had cut it off a second sooner, we would have lost Master Kamiko, but now her body is healed to the point that she's out of fatal danger. Since she spent the full four minutes and fifty-nine seconds in Awakened State, she'll be unconscious for at least two days. I'm taking her away from the battlefield now."

"I'm coming with you."

Mavis smiled, as a Neuroi does, at the scene that had just unfolded and watched as Kouten and Rei flew away with Kamiko. "What a sight. It makes my core tingle inside."

Before she could utter another word, Toshiro and Aya appeared in front of her, using their time dilution magic.

"Well done saving her," Mavis praised. "I may be your enemy, but I have deep respect for what you've just done."

Her words bore no change upon Toshiro's mind, nor Aya's.

Toshiro clenched his left fist and held Oblivion Lost in Mavis's direction. He spoke in a cold, monotone voice. "Don't expect mercy."

Aya held her hand out toward Kari, who took the hand and transformed into Hikarimaru. "That goes double for me."

"I can feel your anger... your _rage_," Mavis said slowly as she materialized a blade of her own. "Channel that rage at me. Show me what you've got."

Toshiro only grew angrier upon hearing those words. "Kamiko is a dear friend of mine."

"Then avenge her!" Mavis commanded.

"You're dead."


	22. Chapter 22: Lux Aeterna

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 22: Lux Aeterna**

**"Eternal Light"**

* * *

**-April 21st, 1953-  
-Aya's Flashback-  
-Earlier that day during Aya's training-**

Aya was sitting on the bed in the darkness of her own. Kari was sitting just opposite her, with her golden eyes glowing in the darkness.

"So... What are we going to do?" Aya asked.

"To learn to evoke my Awakened state consciously you must travel to an astral plane."

"Travel? And why?"

"Don't worry, Mistress Aya, travelling is only a figure of speech. You'll be doing it all in your mind. And as why for you have to do it, it's because Awakening me in a mortal realm has its consequences no matter if it's training or the real deal."

"I see... Okay, board me up the plane to Whereversville." Aya smiled.

"Heh... Since it's your mind, you can design how the plane will look. Ready?"

"Ready."

"Close your eyes, and give me your hand," Kari said softly.

Aya placed her hand on Kari's, and she closed her eyes as instructed. She felt as if time and space warped around her, but she didn't try to peek.

"You can open your eyes now, Mistress Aya."

She opened her eyes and saw an infinite plain of lush grass under a slightly blue sky, without a trace of clouds, but a sun shining strongly.

"Just as I imagined it." She smiled.

"You've always had an immense willpower, and I admired that in you, Mistress. I much prefer this plain to the frozen wasteland from before..."

"I'm sorry if you were inconvenienced by that..." Aya said quietly.

"What are a few years of waiting in slumber to all that I had lived?" Kari shrugged.

"Heh... So, what now?"

"Now, I want you to use your willpower to the fullest, and go even deeper."

"Go deeper?"

"I want you to meditate now, and go into your sub-consciousness."

"Is that even possible for me?"

"Believe in me, who believes in you, Mistress. You can do it. I will oversee and guide you on your _journey_."

"Good," Aya said and sat on the ground. "Heh, it's warm..."

She closed her eyes, and felt Kari's hand on her shoulder.

"Purge your mind. Nothing should matter. Focus on my voice."

Aya concentrated and soon she felt as if she was sinking into an infinite pit.

"Kari...?"

"Don't fear. This is only your mind."

"Okay..."

After calming down, Aya meditated further. She let the feeling of sinking take her whole body, and then Kari said, "Open your eyes."

When Aya did so, she saw a white room with infinite rows of filing cabinets.

"Bravo, Mistress Aya. This is your sub-consciousness, from which you can access any part of your memories. But we're not interested in that now. Right now, you have to find the switch to awaken me consciously," Kari's bodiless voice said.

"A switch?"

"Yes."

"A switch..." Aya pondered. "How about..."

She concentrated greatly, and then a simple control panel appeared before her, with only one big red button on it under a glass pane.

"Ingenious!" Kari gasped.

"Is that the switch?"

"You can only find out if you press it."

"Well then... You have to die of something," Aya said and smashed through the glass, pressing the button at the same time.

"It seems that isn't enough..." Kari sighed.

"Ugh, what a failure..."

"Don't fret, Mistress. I think I know what's going on... You're brain probably set up a failsafe, so you can't awaken me just like that, because it estimated and evaluated the consequences of it. That's why, you have to be metaconscious of it."

"What's that? Something to eat?" Aya joked.

"Heehee... Basically, you have to be conscious of being conscious."

"Now that's some deep shit you're saying there, Kari... But I'll try."

Aya closed her eyes yet again today.

_Conscious... Conscious... I have to know, that I want to know... I want to Awaken Hikarimaru, and I know the consequences... It's necessary. It's essential. I need to do it!_

"Aya!"

She opened her eyes, and saw that the panel now had a key in it, with a red light shining above it.

"You did it, Mistress!"

"Heh... Maybe... Who knows if my brain won't throw a curveball... We're trying?"

"Please, do."

Aya turned the key, and the light changed from red to green. Then she firmly pressed the button. In a split second, she found herself in the grassy plain, holding Hikarimaru overflowing with light.

"Did... Did I do it?"

"Yes! Yes! We both succeeded! Amazing!" Kari cheered in her head.

"I don't exactly _feel_ differently..." Aya mumbled.

"Please use an attack in which you know well its power," Kari said with a confident voice.

"Welp... Here it goes..." Aya said. She took a breath and shouted, "**Shin Reppuzan!**"

The sheer force of the attack being launched pushed her back, and Aya just stood breathless watching as it soared across the air.

"Convinced?"

"Heh... I guess so..."

"On top of that, you can activate any aura you possess, amplifying your strength even further."

"I'll try that a bit later maybe... Right now, I have a question: Was this the only way I could awaken you?"

"Of course there are other ways, Mistress Aya. You can always be brought to the point of blind rage, or a fury so righteous you would rival an Archangel. The second worked for your Grandfather perfectly in the past... or I suppose the future from our current standpoint"

"I see."

* * *

-Present-

Toshiro and Aya were floating side by side, both staring down Neuroi High Commander Mavis. Mavis had just severely wounded Kamiko only minutes prior, who barely survived the ordeal.

Aya gripped Hikarimaru's hilt tightly and activated her Magic Drive.

** _"Do it, Mistress Aya! Show her your power!"_**

Aya's blue aura of magic suddenly became translucent and more defined around the edges with golden lightning-esque sparks and a light golden circle appeared over her opalescent blue eyes. "**Awaken.**"

Toshiro's furious expression briefly changed to surprise before Aya bolted toward Mavis. As they clashed blades, Toshiro's thoughts returned to Kamiko.

_After what I did to save Kamiko, this bitch just goes and runs her through with her own blade!?_

Toshiro's anger quickly grew the more he thought about it. Before he realized what was happening, his body and weapon began to glow white. Despite not completing their training, he instinctively activated the Awakened State.

** _"Well done, Master."_**

**_ "I will show this bitch my righteous fury."_**

Toshiro activated both his Flame of Kōjin and an additional ability. Through the emotion and surge of power, a pair of gauntlets appeared on his hands that he immediately recognized from Aya's use of it - Will of Jötun. The white fiery aura surrounding Toshiro's white flaming Kōjin armor grew more defined and translucent, just like the auras of everyone else's Awakened States, and his Jötun gauntlets also glowed a fiery red. On his red irises, a thin black ring glowing white appeared.

** _"So I have the Will of Jötun, too. I know just what to hit this Neuroi with."_**

**_ "I understand. I'll transform to match your needs."_**

Oblivion Lost glowed in a bright light for a moment before transforming into two rings that attached to his biceps. He flexed his muscles, and the rings stretched with them.

**_"The form I am using now is similar to that used by Anthelion and Triskelion, the Elder God Legendary Weapon partners of Lady Eliana and Lord Elias. Your unarmed power is now equal to your sword power."_**

**_ "Then this should be easy."_**

Toshiro smirked as he diluted time and closed the distance between himself and Mavis. Aya had just kicked Mavis hard in the chest and launched her back a fair distance.

"Aya, it's my turn."

Just before Toshiro started his attacks, Mavis blasted him with an immensely powerful energy beam. Aya reacted quickly. She diluted time, flew up to Toshiro, placed her hand on his back, and combined her power with his. The beam dissipated shortly after, doing only minor damage to Toshiro's armor, and none whatsoever to Toshiro himself.

"Good save, Aya," Toshiro said. He glared at Mavis.

"Show me what you can do, Champion."

Toshiro diluted time to the greatest degree he could muster, a notion Aya followed so she could see what he was doing, reaching a dilution of one hundred thousand times.

Toshiro began his assault.

"**Dou!**" He struck Mavis with a straight open palm blow from his right hand.

"**Tetsu!**" He followed up with a straight left punch.

"**Hagane!**" He then struck her with a powerful blow from his right knee.

"**Chitan!**" He spun in a complete three hundred sixty degree circle, clockwise, and pounded her with an incredible blow from his left leg, extended straight.

"**Sekiei!**" He followed that with a two hundred seventy degree front flip ending in a right heel drop.

"**Ogyoku!**" He then struck her with a strong dual open palm uppercut.

"**Kougyoku!**" He followed with a powerful right hand uppercut.

"**Kongouseki!**" He finished with a left handed open palm strike to her chest. The energy unleashed from his final blow pierced through Mavis's chest, clean through to her core, but did not destroy it despite doing heavy damage. Toshiro turned to Aya and nodded at her as he backed away.

Aya summoned all her power into the glowing Hikarimaru.

**_"Mistress, while in the Awakened State, you have access to my power. Use the Senkou Suto!"_**

**_ "But I don't know how to do that technique!"_**

**_ "I will guide you."_**

Aya nodded and moved Hikarimaru to her left hip, where its sheath formed around it. Guided by Kari herself, Aya vanished even from Toshiro's sight and appeared shortly after behind Mavis with her blade drawn and held up to the right.

Mavis's core was sliced clean in half along with her arm up nearly to her shoulder and part of her left torso between the cut in her arm and cut to her core.

Both Aya and Toshiro ended their time dilution.

"Impressive," Mavis said. "Well done." Mavis's body, starting with her hands and feet, working up toward her torso, started breaking up into white fragments. "I am defeated, but this is not the end. Lord Mavet will not fall."

"We'll see about that," Toshiro stated.

"Good luck, Champions," Mavis said. "You'll need it." The last of her body broke apart and shattered into fragments.

"This is Minna reporting to our base defense. The hive has disappeared and all the Neuroi in the region have shattered. We are all clear here, but what happened?"

"This is Toshiro. Aya and I destroyed the commander. Now, I think I'm gonna take a little nap..."

"A nap?"

Before he could respond, Livy canceled the Awakened State, causing Toshiro to fall unconscious, and held him on her back. Kari did the same with Aya, and the two flew up to Zen.

"Mission accomplished," he said. "Take our heroes to the infirmary."

"Roger," Livy and Kari said in unison.

Zen then spoke up over the radio, broadcasting his voice to everyone in his group and in the hive assault group. "Mission accomplished. The commander is dead, the hive destroyed, and no traces of Neuroi remain. All units return to base!"

* * *

Several hours after the mission was completed, Kye and Yoshika were finally up and on their feet, albeit still weak. Joey and Gaia accompanied them everywhere.

Before supper, the four visited the infirmary again to check up on Toshiro and Aya. Livy and Kari were both lying in bed with them, napping away while subconsciously feeding their respective masters life energy.

After visiting Toshiro and Aya, Yoshika branched off to visit with Lynne and the others for a while, and Kye went to Kamiko's room. She found Rei staring blankly at her sleeping daughter. Kouten was sitting in a chair on the right side of the bed with her left arm lying where she could reach Kamiko's right hand.

Kouten's face was red from the tears she had shed. Kye saw that and kneeled down in front of her. She looked straight into Kouten's eyes, but the girl turned away.

"Kouko sweetie, what's the matter?" Kye asked with a gentle voice.

"I can't..." She mumbled.

"Kouko, look at me."

Tears were in the girl's eyes as she turned back to Kye.

"You can't blame yourself for what happened."

"Yes, I can!" Kouko cried. "Any other Legendary would have been able to dismiss before allowing this to happen, but I couldn't! It _IS_ my fault! That _monster_ pushed me through her heart, and I was too slow to stop it! I almost lost my big sister because of my own inability!"

"You haven't had enough training yet, Kouko. You were the first Legendary born in almost ten thousand years. You're only forty years old. That's infancy for an immortal. All the other Legendaries have thousands of years of training over you. You and Kamiko have proven formidable, but nobody is perfect."

Kye embraced the young Legendary as she continued to cry.

"Mom..." Rei mumbled.

"_You_ are her adoptive mother, Rei. You should be doing this yourself."

"I know... But..."

"You're still in shock over it," Kye said softly. "I understand well, having been there myself with you and your sisters."

Rei only nodded in return.

"Now, go on, Kouko. Climb onto the bed with Kamiko. You need to rest, too."

Kouko obeyed and laid down next to Kamiko, making sure to climb under the blanket and wrap her arm around her partner so as to continue transferring the necessary life energy.

Kye stood there silently, watching her daughter, granddaughter, and adopted granddaughter for a few minutes. She laid her right hand on Kouko's head for a moment, and her hand glowed in rainbow energy. Using her True Zen power, Kye put Kouko to sleep to ensure she would get the rest she needed.

As she turned to leave, she met Joey's eyes and a thought sprang in her mind. A look of great surprise came across Kye's face, leaving her Joey confused.

_Oh my..._

* * *

While Kye went to visit Kamiko, Yoshika joined her teammates in the common room designated for the 501st. All ten of the remaining Strike Witches were gathered in the common room and were happy to see Yoshika back on her feet, though she still had to be accompanied by Gaia.

The two sat down on one of the couches together and were soon barraged by questions.

"Yoshika, what was is like?" Mio asked.

"Does it still hurt?" Trude asked.

"Are you still recovering?" Minna asked in a slightly louder voice as to mark her question more important.

"I'm still not at one hundred percent, but I'm fine to be up and around now," Yoshika answered. "I just need a good night's sleep now."

"And I will make sure you get it," Gaia added.

"Yoshika, that was the first time I've ever seen you use the Awakened State," Mio said. "What was it like?"

"Very painful."

"If I may," Gaia began, "the Awakened State doubles her power for a short while, but this dramatic increase has a drawback, especially when using the Ultimate Magic Aura or the True Zen Aura beyond that. Since the auras give a radical increase in power already, the Awakened State is all the more effective. With the True Zen Aura and Awakened State, Master Yoshika becomes six times more powerful than her normal state. However, the more powerful a boost the Awakened State gives, the more painful it becomes to use it. Of course, the worst is what comes if she wakes up before the healing process is complete, as she did this time."

"Yeah, it was awful."

"But, you're okay now?" Lynne asked.

"For the most part," Yoshika said. "I just have to take it easy, because the pain spikes do still hit me every now and then."

"Will those pain spikes be gone by tomorrow?" Trude asked.

"Should be. They rarely last more than a day and a half, and never two days."

"How often have you done this?" Erica asked.

"Once a month since we returned from the other future. You remember when the Goddess Kye brought Gaia to visit Hikarimaru about a year ago?"

Erica nodded. "You came to Berlin for a few weeks after the whole rainbow world thingy you did."

"Chris was happy to see you, but then the other Kye surprised all of us when she brought a green haired girl to visit," Trude added.

"Hey! What's wrong with green hair!?" Gaia asked, flustered.

"Nothing at all." Yoshika patted her partner's head. "I like your green hair."

Everyone shared a laugh for a moment.

"Anyway, ever since the other Kye brought Gaia to us, we've practiced the Awakened State once a month. Only Aunt Kye and Rei know about it since we disappear into the mountains for a couple days each time."

"So Rei watched over you two after your training each time?" Mio asked.

"No, she was training, too."

"Tenten would get jealous if she and Rei were left out."

"Tenten?"

"Rei's Legendary Weapon," Gaia said. "Tenrai and Tenshi, Twin Blades of the Divine Angel. Her human name is Tenten."

"Right, she's mentioned the twin blades before, but I've never seen her actually use them," Mio said.

"What about you, Major?" Perrine asked. "Do you have a Legendary Weapon?"

"Are you ever going to stop calling me "Major"?" Mio asked in return. "I haven't been that rank since '45."

"But you're a Major General!"

"Then don't cut it short, Perrine. I told you to use my name anyway."

"I'm sorry, it's an old habit."

Mio walked over to Perrine and patted her head. "Yeah, I know. But no, I don't have a Legendary."

"Master Yoshika is the only mortal in your world that possesses one, which is me," Gaia added. "Kye and Rei can use their Legendaries while they are mortals, but they aren't true mortals like all of you."

"It would be a big advantage if more of us had Legendaries," Shirley coined. "The power difference is ridiculous. Only a couple of us can even fight those super-powered Neuroi Commanders, and that one today took three of us!"

"And one of those three was hurt really bad," Lucchini added.

"Yeah..." Yoshika said. "I hope Kamiko is okay now."

"Never before have any of us been used against our own Master," Gaia said. "Kouten is still young, so she's likely to be real upset about it."

"I'm sure she'll pull through," Yoshika added softly. "Kamiko is the strongest willed girl I've ever met. She won't let Kouten stay upset for long."

* * *

After visiting Rei, Kamiko, and Kouko, Kye quickly bolted to her office and gave an announcement over the PA system.

"This is General Kye Miyafuji. All members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and all Neuri Tribe Team members assemble in the war room at nineteen hundred. I repeat, all members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and all Neuri Tribe Team members assemble in the war room at nineteen hundred."

She turned off the PA system and slouched down in her chair. A burst of pain surged through her body for a moment, and she was brought back to the reality that she was still recovering from her Awakened State endeavors only one day prior.

Joey pulled her out of the chair and sat her down on the sofa. It was still two hours until the meeting she had just called, so the two relaxed together for a while.

Supper was half an hour away, and after it passed, Yoshika and Gaia came to visit with two plates of food, one for each Kye and Joey. The two thanked the food bringers and dug in. They rather enjoyed eating the proper _home cooked_ meal consisting of mashed potatoes, gravy, green beans, ham, and corn on the cob. It didn't take them long to clean their plates.

Once the clock read 1840, Kye and Joey got up from the sofa and returned their dishes to the cafeteria before heading to the war room for the meeting. They arrived before anyone else.

As Kye and Joey sat waiting, the godly Kye contacted them, though Joey only listened.

**_ "Do you want to explain to me what you have cooked up?"_**

**_ "You can't read my mind?"_**

**_ "Actually, no."_**

**_ "Then my theory is confirmed."_**

**_ "What theory?"_**

**_ "The reason why I have access to True Zen as a mortal, and the reason why your power was cut so much when you revived me. You already know of my theory, but you dismissed it believing that it was impossible."_**

**_ "You have to be wrong."_**

**_ "But I'm not. The reason your power is fractioned, and the reason why I possess True Zen, is because you unintentionally transferred some of your power to me when you revived me upon Yoshika's request."_**


	23. Chapter 23: A Witch's World

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 23: A Witch's World**

* * *

**-April 22nd, 1953-**

Toshiro's consciousness slowly came to him.

_ Oh gods... I feel awful..._

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling above him.

"Where am I...?" he mumbled slowly and quietly.

"Grandpa? You're awake?" Aya's voice came from his right.

"Can't you tell?"

"I can't turn my head. It hurts."

Toshiro tried to turn his head, but instead of turning even a few degrees a sharp pain invaded his body.

"Owowowow! Oh my... I feel like boiled shit churned in a grinder and then dried up and burned."

"Stop or I'll hurl."

"Sorry, but I have to say that this pain is... familiar."

"Because it _is_ familiar, Master." He heard Livy's voice from the left.

"Hmm? Livy? You're here?"

"I'm here too," Kari's voice sounded in the room.

"Oh riiiight. You have to pump us full of life energy," Toshiro concluded quickly. "But what was that about the familiarity of this pain?"

"Do you remember Halfaya Pass, Master?"

"Well yeah, I fought an enormous pyramid Neuroi and..." Toshiro's brain started slowly piecing it together. "No..."

"Yes, Master. Back then, using Aganaimaru as a medium, you summoned me in my Awakened State. The strain of that and the Godly Particle put you in a nine day coma, and shattered the physical shell of the sword."

"Wooow... Grandpa, so you're not a virgin in these matters it seems," Aya said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I'm not a virgin in many matters..." Toshiro tried to laugh but only caused himself pain. "But I wonder why I couldn't simply wield you later on, Livy."

"Your body has to adapt to me, Master. I am an Elder God, and although using me in my normal form is safe, your body has to acknowledge me. I can't explain further though, sorry."

"Well, whatever now, dear Livy... Damn, I don't feel you beside me."

"How about now?" Livy asked as she squeezed Toshiro's left hand.

"Yeah, now I feel you."

He heard the door opening and closing quickly.

"Who is it?" he asked, and then Yoshika appeared beside him. "Oh, hi. You're fit already?"

"It's tomorrow already, Toshiro. You and Aya were unconscious for a whole day."

"Welp that was one of the shortest periods of absence in my life..."

He saw that a devilish smile popped up on Yoshika's face, and she started wiggling her fingers.

"No... No! Please!" Toshiro begged as her fingers got closer to him.

When they were only a few centimeters from his sides, Yoshika sighed and said, "I can't just torture you like that after all."

Toshiro sighed from relief. "My Yoshika would probably do it, just to have an excuse for making out and/or sex afterwards."

"Hmm... Well, no making out in your current condition but..." She moved her hand and started stroking his head gently. "I can do this at least."

Toshiro hissed in pain.

"Oh, does this pain you too? My, I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault for not stopping you. I guess I wanted to be patted by you badly."

"Of course you were." Yoshika smiled.

"What's happening, Grandpa?" Aya asked. "I hope it's nothing indecent."

"If you want, I can try to do it to you too after I finish with Toshiro," Yoshika replied.

"Oh well... If you want, Grandma..."

"Grandma?!" Yoshika pouted. "Don't call me that, I'm only twenty three!"

"Okay, sorry, heh..." Aya tried to laugh too, but pain was all she managed. "Ooooowwww..."

"You poor things."

"I'm used to my body screaming with pain from every neuron," Toshiro said. "I don't know about Aya though."

"This is a first to me. All my training hasn't been as damn painful and tiring as the aftermath of these few minutes... And I had damn Special Forces training..."

"Well, you two sure kicked that commander's butt." Yoshika smiled. "Kye showed me the footage from the fight. It was... nice, to say the least." Toshiro and Aya instinctively knew that she wasn't complimenting the battle itself, but instead their drive during the battle. "Aya, thanks for saving Kamiko, and thanks for avenging her, Toshiro."

"Mmm," Aya mumbled in return.

"That squirt has grown on me a little," Toshiro said. He smiled and tried to tilt his head to the side, but pain coursed through his body. "Ah damn! I think the use of the Kyoukujitsuken probably stacked on me, too. Fuck!"

"You're sure a potty mouth, Toshiro. I'm gonna try to pat Aya's head now."

"Fine then." Toshiro tried to shrug but only hissed in pain.

He felt something moving on his bed and warmth on the left side of his body.

"Don't worry, Master, I'll take care of you. Relax."

"Livy? You're lying in one bed with me?" he asked surprised.

"Heehee, yes."

"Heheheheh... Now that I have an Elder God as a personal doctor and hug pillow, I'm sure I'll be ready to fight in no time! Ooowww..."

"Reeeelaaax..." Livy started to pat him on the head. "There you go."

"Nooooow it's so much better..."

"Ooooooow..." Aya hissed from the side.

_ Well, that didn't work..._

"Sorry, Aya," Yoshika mumbled apologetically.

Out of thin air, as usual, the goddess with rainbow acute heptagrams over her silver eyes appeared above Toshiro.

"Welp, moment spoiled," Toshiro said.

"Oh come now, don't be like that. I came to praise you and Aya."

"Is that you, errr... Kye, I believe now?" Aya asked.

"Yes, it's me, Aya. Good job with that commander, by the way."

"Thanks..." Aya tried to muster a smile.

"And of course you deserve praise too, Toshiro."

"Yeah, yeah... Hey, can you do that same to Aya as Livy is doing to me?"

"Of course I can, Toshiro. With pleasure," Kye said and appeared at Aya's side, patting her on the head. "Better, Aya?"

"Yeeeeeeeeessss... Much better..." Aya melted in glee.

"So how long will we be writhing in pain here?" Toshiro asked.

"As long as necessary." Kye smiled.

"Well thank you, endless spring of worthless answers... Ugh..."

"Oh come on, Toshiro, don't be such a meanie," Yoshika said. "Kye is helping you as much as she can."

"Yeah, yeah, blah, blah. But she nabbed me from my world in the first place, and I'm still steaming mad about that. You may be biased towards her - her mortal self is your aunt, which her immortal self of course rigged. She helped you win two wars, gain some absurd power, and did who the fuck knows how much in between. Let's face it, in the total tally, I'm just a tenth figure after the decimal. I know her less than a month and... Ehh, whatever... I'll just try to sleep... Raving won't help shit."

Kye floated over to Toshiro and placed her hand over his eyes. Her hand glowed in rainbow energy for a brief moment, and when she moved her hand, Toshiro was fast asleep. "Do you want to sleep, too, Aya?"

"Anything to get rid of this pain."

"M'kay," the golden haired woman said as she floated back to Aya and put her to sleep as well. The goddess smiled at the sleeping Aya for a moment before glancing to Kari. "You cheated."

"Eh?" Kari was caught off guard.

"Senkou Suto."

"Oh, hehe."

Kye smiled at her as well. "You're guiding her well, but try not to teach her anymore advanced Divine Light techniques. Without you, she can't even perform that one. I know how much you like the girl, but don't go too far, for her sake."

Kari smiled apologetically. "Of course."

* * *

**-April 23rd, 1953-**

In the early morning Toshiro opened his eyes, waking up from his Kye-induced rest.

"Good morning, Master." The sultry whisper of Livy surprised him pleasantly.

On instinct he turned his head over to the left and saw the goddess lying beside him holding his left hand.

"Morning, Livy. I hope I didn't inconvenience you?"

"No, Master, not at all. I'm performing my duty." She smiled. "How are you?"

"Umm... The pain is gone, or at least I think so. That sleep I had and your healing helped me a lot." Toshiro replied softly.

Livy smiled even brighter and said, "I'm glad to serve you well, Master."

"You could cut it with the _Master_ shtick, I'm Toshiro."

"No, no, I am a _Homo Telum_, literally meaning "weapon man" in Latin. All of us refer to our wielders as "master", "mistress", or by title of nobility. Even if you think it's wrong, that's just how it works, Master."

"Well whatever. Calling you by your name is probably enough for both of us, right?"

Livy nodded and pointed out to his right side. Toshiro turned over and saw Aya stretching herself out on her bed and yawning.

"Mistress Aya, good morning," Kari sad from her side, from a position similar to Livy's.

"Hiya, Kari." Aya smiled, but her eyes wandered towards her left. "Oh hi Grandpa!"

"Mornin', Sweetie. Everything cool?"

"Wait a second..." Aya waved her hands around and said, "Yeah, more or less. Thanks for rejuvenating me, Kari!"

"It's my natural obligation after an Awakening, Mistress." Kari bowed her head slightly.

Livy raised herself from Toshiro's side and asked, "Kari, should we assist our masters for a walk?"

"Oh, hi Livy! Didn't see you!" Aya cheered.

"Good morning, Little Mistress." Livy smiled warmly. "So, Kari?"

"Sure," Kari said. "I think it would be nice."

"So, you want us to take a walk?" Toshiro asked. "I guess we should move our stale bodies after so much lying in bed. Right, Aya?"

"Of course! Ah, but wait a second..." Aya said and looked under her blanket.

**_ "Liiiivyyyyyy..."_**

**_ "Master, but that's... rude..."_**

**_ "Even you are reading my damn mind? Sheesh... But at least now you know what I want."_**

**_ "I'm sorry for invading the privacy of your mind, Master, but that's beyond me. But um... you really want me to do it?"_**

**_ "Pweaaaaaaase! I'll take all the blame!"_**

**_ "As you wish, Master..."_**

**_ "Thanks, Livy!"_**

**_ "Toshiro, you're a hypocrite."_**

**_ "Shuddup, Kye."_**

The Karlslander quickly pushed the blanket back against her body. "Kaaariii... Paaaantieees!"

"I'm sorry, Mistress, but I'm not a goddess," Kari apologized, "and I don't have creation powers."

"But how did my panties disappear in the first place?!" Aya shouted and looked at Toshiro, who was trying to hide his roguish smirk. "Graaaaandpaaa... I hope you haven't violated me? I am your granddaughter after all!" she said angrily.

"Me? No, not directly." Toshiro tried to hold up a straight face.

Aya then looked at the blonde goddess behind him and said, "Livyyyyyy..."

"Master ordered me, Young Mistress," Livy said with a perfect poker face.

"Pervpa..." Aya mumbled. "Can I have my panties back, Livy?"

"Done." Livy smiled.

"Whew... Grandpa, why the stupid prank?"

"Blame it on my childish side, Aya. I was pranked so many times in this world that I had to have some payback at someone. Sorry that it had to be you."

"Well, at least you have the decency to admit it. My mental image of you is still the same, heehee..."

"It's barely past zero seven hundred and you're already at your perverted endeavors," came Michelle's voice from the door. Doran, Ariel, and Adriel were standing next to her.

"Oh, it's you," he said. "And who are the two I don't recognize?"

Michelle glanced at Adriel, "Introduce yourself."

"Adriel Maya, son of Doran and Michelle Maya."

Toshiro glared at Michelle and said, "I thought you were joking about having kids with your cousin."

"Nope," Michelle said with a straight face. "Adriel, finish."

"I am also Eskalion, the Staff of Eternity."

Michelle turned to Ariel next. "You, too."

"Ariel Maya, fraternal twin of Adriel and daughter of Doran and Michelle," she said. "I'm also Iltharion, the Unending Rings."

"Your kids are also your Legendaries, I take it?" Toshiro guessed, aiming his question at Michelle.

"Yep," she replied. "And you are thinking about Yoshika, I take?"

"Yep."

"Mind in the gutter?"

"Yep."

"The day hasn't started yet for us in full swing, and you're already having hairy thoughts, Grandpa," Aya said. "Be somewhat decent, it's not the Yoshika from our world."

"I was snatched away from my world early September 1945, Aya. My Yoshika, and your grandmother, barely scraped sixteen right now, and her magic is completely disabled. I've been here for almost a month, and before that, I was away from home for another month. Do you have an idea how much I miss her?" Toshiro asked.

"Oh, I see..." Aya hung her head low. "Sorry for making assumptions, Grandpa."

"I can tell you're a nice girl from your humble reaction. Don't worry, this is my cross to bear. Now, let's go for a walk, shall we?"

"Kay!" Aya changed her mood immediately.

"We're off then," Michelle said.

"What's the hurry?" Toshiro asked.

"Doran and I just wanted to check on you two."

"I wanted to thank you for saving my granddaughter," Doran said.

"Yeah, isn't he so nice?" the Goddess Kye said as she suddenly appeared between Doran and Michelle.

Toshiro sighed. "Moment ruined."

"You're a turd, you know that, Toshiro?" Kye mumbled.

"Well, whatever," Michelle said before Toshiro could argue. "Let's leave them be."

"Take it easy, Bucko," Doran said as the others walked out.

"Yeah, yeah," Toshiro replied.

"I mean that literally," Doran added as he closed the door behind him.

"Our turn..." Toshiro mumbled. Before he moved to get out of bed, Toshiro looked under his blanket. "I have underwear, but I could use some shorts. Livy?"

"Your wish, et cetera, Master." Livy smiled, and Toshiro felt a clothing article on his lap. "Well then, come on, Aya." Toshiro said and jumped out of the bed quickly, experiencing a sharp spike of pain in his legs. "Aaaargh, fuck, gods!"

"Grandpa?!"

"Master, please don't move violently, you've not recovered in whole. You can move around and function rather normally as a civilian, but battles and acrobatics are ill advised," Livy explained and grabbed his hand. "And we still have to maintain contact."

"The same goes for you, Mistress," Kari said. "Okay?"

"Sure, Kari."

"Ugh, okay," Toshiro said. "Slow and steady is today's motto."

Toshiro went out first, and almost immediately, his right hand was grabbed gently.

"Hi," someone with a voice that Toshiro would recognize anywhere said. "I hope I'm not causing you pain?"

"Hi, Yoshika, and no, you're not. But if you want to drag me out on a marathon, I must decline." Toshiro smirked.

"Hi Grandma!" Aya cheered.

"Hi... Ugh, I feel old..." Yoshika mumbled.

"You sure don't look like it," Toshiro said.

"Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Mister," Yoshika said with a giggle. "Aya, can you leave us alone for a moment?"

"Sure thing, Grandma." Aya nodded.

"Come on, Toshiro," Yoshika said. "Oh, and Livy, you don't have to feel like you're a bother."

"Thank you," she responded.

"Two girls at one time on a walk? Yoshika, are you an angel?" Toshiro asked.

"Huh? Why are you asking?"

"Because I think I'm in heaven." He snickered.

**_ "Feel good now that you finally got that one out of your system?"_**

**_ "Shuddup and let me have my moment, Kye."_**

**_ "Aye, aye."_**

"Heehee... You sure don't slow down for anyone, do you?" Yoshika asked.

"Especially not for somebody that's the otherworldly counterpart of my only true love." He answered softly.

"Yes, your Yoshika... How am I doing as an ersatz?"

"You're perfect, and actually, you're milder demeanor is something that oddly I like."

"So your Yoshika is a bit wilder, hmm? How did that happen?"

"If I would have to pinpoint a single factor that governed her changed of personality, it would be me. I always think that from love to me, she changed to better suit my needs."

**_ "The word "arrogant" comes to mind."_**

**_ "Fuck off already."_**

"Both sexual and psychological I guess?" Yoshika asked curiously.

"Indeed. But she did get a bit tamer after Romagna. Her loss of magic powers is depressing her, although she's bottling it up, letting it lose on rare occasions."

"And do you support her?"

"Yes, by all means. If she has to shed a tear, let it be in my arms. I always tell her that she's a hero, probably even greater than me. She sacrificed her dreams to save _me_, and all the people that would suffer if that Alpha Hive was still there."

"You said that as if... as if she only wanted to save you, right?"

"Yes, Yoshika. I was trapped in the same core as Mio, and my Yoshika made it clear that I'm the most important thing she wanted to save at that moment. And ever since we started living together, I'm repaying her for the sacrifice she made in every way possible. Destined to be together or not, I can't take her as something granted, that's why I try hard to make even the most boring day a good one for my Yoshika."

"That's beautiful," Yoshika mused as a single tear fell from her right eye, "but I suppose..."

Toshiro wiped her tear off delicately with his finger and said, "And I won't let you cry unnecessarily either, Yoshika. I hate when women cry, it makes me feel powerless, ripping apart my ego."

"How can a man be so considerate and yet so... _ravenous_ about women at the same time?"

"You really would have to relive my life the way I did it, hahaha! Or I can tell you about all my godforsaken life, but I'm warning you, there a lot of lewd things in that story."

"I was a married woman, Toshiro, don't worry." Yoshika smirked.

"Heh... Ah, wait, I have a question for you."

"Hmm?"

"After childbirth, how long did it take you to recover?"

"Sure is a weird question... But yeah, after only two days I resumed training."

"So my Yoshika didn't lie about that..." Toshiro pondered.

"About what?" Yoshika asked curiously.

"You'll get to know in the course of my storytelling. Let's find a quiet place and I'll tell you everything, kay?"

"Okay."

"So, Livy, I hope you'll stay with me a bit longer?" Toshiro asked.

"Of course I will, Master."

Aya, who was following them quietly with Kari up until now stopped and asked her partner, "How can it be that somebody who is a borderline perv can be such a wonderful person at the same time?"

"Your great grandmother shaped the second part of him, and his genetic heritage was partially the reason he _exploded with potency_ once he joined the 501st, Mistress."

"His genetic heritage? How?"

"Look at him, Mistress. He was the odd one out in school. A big handsome _gaijin_ kid amongst Fusojins - cookie cutter shorties. No girl wanted him, so he decided not to bother at all. But once he found himself in an all-girl environment, his slight reluctance towards inter-sexual contacts slowly started wearing down."

"And the small hole in the dam made it rip apart... Come on, Kari, let's find somebody to play with."

"How about visiting Kamiko, Mistress...?" Kari asked shyly.

"Oh... Riiiight... I suppose we should. Lead the way."

"Yes!" Kari cheered and marched forward.

Toshiro and Yoshika exchanged smiles, left the building, and flew away.

* * *

Toshiro and Yoshika landed under an oak tree, where Livy left them to talk in private, watching over them from afar. Toshiro told every intrinsic detail Yoshika needed or didn't need to know about his relationship with the _other_ Yoshika.

"And now I'm here, not hearing from her for slightly over two weeks," he finished, ending his story.

"Waaaait..." Yoshika squinted her eyes. "So to recap the last part, Yoshika didn't make a fuss about you living with a fit and sexy witch that is older than you, beautiful, and whatever other reason there is to dig up against it, and she also let you have sex with her _twice_?"

"My Yoshika seems to work in mysterious ways." Toshiro shrugged. "Maybe that was a _gift_ for calling her on her birthday?"

"I really can't think of anything, Toshiro. I preferred monogamy in my life and..." She sighed deeply. "It stopped at that."

"Ever thought of changing that? You could use a male arm to lean onto, although I have to say that it would be difficult to be with you."

"You already caught on to that, huh?" She smiled slightly. "I guess my flame is too hot for any normal man to warm himself by my side for longer..."

"That flame saved this world twice, Yoshika. If my own Yoshika would save the world at least once, I would walk around with her like with a relic."

Yoshika giggled and said, "You know, the two of us Yoshikas are a bit similar after all - we both _did_ save the world."

Toshiro tilted his head and asked, "What? First I heard of my Yoshika saving the world..."

"It's not the world in a broad geographical sense, Toshiro. She saved _you_. Some people say that their own personal world ends with their deaths, and it's that apocalypse that your Yoshika prevented in the selfish act of saving you from that Alpha Core."

Toshiro looked dumbfounded at Yoshika, and he asked, "Selfish? How can that be selfish, if she saved a legion of people in one fell swoop?"

"From what I take it, her motivation was simple - to save you. Nothing else cared for at that very moment, and her own words confirmed it. But don't worry, Toshiro, Yoshika can be as selfish as she wants, without harming other people, as long as it's directed towards _you_. At least that's what I think."

"For once, I really don't know how to respond."

"_You_ are the savior of your world. She saved the world by ensuring you survived to do that, as unintentional as it was. Her selfish act toward you that was to ensure you could have each other was necessary. She _is_ a hero - your hero."

"Yeah," Toshiro said softly.

"Kye has this saying. She says, "A hero is not always the one with the sacrifice play or the one to save the world. Being a hero is simply being what you are needed to be for those that need you." In your case, the world needs you, and you need her. Her selfishness towards you is something that - indirectly - the world needs, which also makes her a world savior."

"My Yoshika..."

"In my case, all I wanted was to help people. You can call it selfless, or you can call it a selfish desire for self accomplishment. I've been called the first and accused of the second."

"Definitely selfless."

"I don't care really whether it's one or the other. I did what I think I was meant to do. I didn't have the luxury of being selfish when I was younger, and I'm content with that. I didn't give it a second thought back then. I saved the world twice, and I have no regrets or remorse about it. Everyone can live a life of peace now, even a race of people that were the enemy at one time. I'm grateful for that. I don't like war. I never have and never will. If I were to have a regret in my life, it's that I can't live a normal life anymore. I'm okay with that, really, and I have Ayame now. _She is my_ _world_."

"I have no idea what it's like to be a parent, but I do like that idea."

"You will someday, I'm sure of it. It's truly a double edged sword, but it's more than worth it. At home, when I wake up, that little girl is always there smiling at me. It warms me up so much." She turned her eyes directly to Toshiro's.

"Someone like you deserves a good life," Toshiro said softly.

"Keep your Yoshika safe. Let her live the life I can't. Let her live the life only we can wish her to have."

At that, an idea sparked in Toshiro, but he decided to keep it to himself, at least for the time being. _I wonder..._


	24. Chapter 24: Divine Power

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 24: Divine Power**

* * *

**-April 23rd, 1953-**

After breakfast, Kye sat in her office with only Joey keeping her company.

"The meeting is soon," Joey said. "You really pulled a fast one on them yesterday evening when you called that meeting and only told them that you have a surprise for them today."

"Yeah. They don't yet know what I have in mind, so that's got them all curious."

"Your plan is outrageous, even by our standards."

"Mhm." Kye held a mirror up and looked at her eyes. They had the same rainbow seven pointed star diagram on them as her godly counterpart. "I have this power for a reason, and I plan to use it. Mavet has upped the ante. So shall we."

* * *

Toshiro and Yoshika returned to their oak tree after breakfast and continued to talk about their lives, with Livy and Gaia watching from afar having their own conversation. Both of their conversations were cut short when Kaylie appeared in front of them via teleportation.

"Sup?" she greeted.

"Enjoying a little peace and quiet," Toshiro told her. "What is Trouble Twin A up to?"

"Dude, you can't put numbers or letters to either of us. You'll make Layla jealous that she's B if you do."

"Yeah, yeah, so-"

"-what's up?" Kaylie finished. "You two are needed for a meeting this morning."

"Oh? When?"

"Right now." Kaylie grabbed their hands and whisked them away. Livy and Gaia followed suit.

* * *

The five reappeared in the Gym in front of the rest of the 501st, as well as the Neuri Teams and Light Kingdom folk, including those who were participating in teams aside the Light Kingdom Contingent. Only Rei and Kamiko were missing, and Kye was facing away from the group.

"Now we are waiting on only two more," Kye said just before Rei rolled Kamiko in on her stretcher.

"You better have a good reason for me bringing her here like this," Rei grumbled. "I don't like my daughter being rolled around while unconscious."

Kye turned toward the group, with her eyes closed, and said, "Of course."

"Then share with the rest of the class," Yami said. "I know you like to be cryptic with everyone, but you usually share with me. What is going on?"

"Okay. What is my name?"

"Is this a trick question?" Mio asked.

"If it is, I'll bite," Minna said. "Kye Miyafuji."

Kye opened her eyes, revealing the rainbow seven pointed stars lying over her silver irises.

"Oh, the Goddess Kye is playing a trick on us." Toshiro rolled his eyes.

"Wait, what?" Yami scratched her head in confusion. "I can sense your power, Kye. You are definitely the mortal counterpart, but why do you have the Seinarugan eyes?"

"Because, my dear sister, when I was revived as per Yoshika's request a year ago, my godly self unintentionally imbued me with her power." Kye held her right hand out, and as she did her body glowed in an intense rainbow aura. "I, the mortal Kye Miyafuji, possess the godly power of Divine True Zen. However, after using a bit of it to discover the limits to what I can do, I only have so much in reserve."

"So then, let's go whoop Mavet's ass," Toshiro said. "With the power of a god, you could easily-"

"No," she interrupted him. "Now that I started using it, I only have a certain amount of time until it wanes. I am limited in how much I have in reserve, and in how much time I have to use it. So I will do this..." She held her hand over Kamiko's head. "Wake, my sleeping granddaughter."

As Kye removed her hand, Kamiko's eyes open, and she got up from the stretcher as if nothing had happened.

"But, she was supposed to be out of it for another day!" Rei gasped.

"And now she's completely healed," Kye said.

"Yeah, I feel great. Better even." Kamiko stretched her arms and tested a few practice punches aimed at only the air. "I feel a lot stronger now as well... like ridiculously stronger."

Kye held both of her hands outward. An omnidirectional wave of rainbow energy shot out from her and engulfed everyone present aside the immortals. "Now everyone should be experiencing a radical power increase."

"I feel it," Mio said, looking at her hands in awe. "It's incredible."

"I'd say this is over a fifty percent increase from my previous level," Minna added.

"All of you, immortals excluded, were brought up to Yoshika's level. Then, her included, I increased everyone by fifty percent. You should all be as powerful or moreso now in your base state as you were before in your Magic Aura state. In addition, everyone should have access to the Ultimate Magic Aura, or equivalent for our Neuri friends. On top of that, for those of you that do not have Legendary Weapons, you will now be able to active a short duration boost to yourself that gives you a flat increase in power. I call this boost "Divine Power". It will last two and a half minutes and give you an increase of double. So if you were to use your Ultimate Magic Aura, your power in that state would double, giving you an enormous boost over your base state. Any of you should be able to combat the high level Neuroi Commanders that we've encountered since beginning the assault on the northwest region."

"What's the catch?" Toshiro asked.

"There is none. This boost is permanent for everyone aside you and Aya, which you two will be returned to your worlds, assuming we win the simulation and avert the destruction of both the universes at stake, with the power you came here with, albeit a reasonable increase for your efforts in training. You can't train with no results, after all."

"What about those of us with Legendaries?" Yoshika asked.

"You will also have the Divine Power boost, but it will work differently for you," Kye explained. "Your Awakened State can now be used for the first two and a half minutes without the usual repercussion, but going beyond that will still have that usual repercussion. However, there _will_ be a different consequence for using the first two and a half minutes. It can only be done once per day, and once it's over you will find yourself completely drained and unable to continue combat. You won't fall into a coma, but you will still need a proper night's rest to recharge your proverbial battery."

"This will give us a great boost in battle when facing those nasty _super_ commanders," Aya added.

"I have something to add," the Goddess Kye said as she appeared out of thin air. "Boosting only those present here is somewhat unfair, so I took the liberty in giving everyone else a reasonable boost as well. Just enough so that they won't be inadequate compared to everyone here that has been given the Divine Power boost, however a few of the others not present in this meeting did get the Divine Power boost. I won't say who they are, but you'll find out soon enough."

"Aren't you nice?" the mortal Kye said.

"Also, due to Mavet "upping the stakes" as my mortal counterpart here said earlier in private, I have done something as well. Everyone who possesses a Legendary Weapon, including the Maya Group and the immortals, are now cleared to use the Awakened State."

"What's with the sudden round of presents?" Toshiro asked. "Didn't you say it's against your rules to meddle too much?"

The goddess turned her eyes to Toshiro and adamantly said, "I believe in fair fights. If Mavet wants to give his troops an edge, then he forfeits some of the restrictions we agreed on for our side." Her own intense aura of rainbow energy flared to life as she made a fist. "I am the Goddess of the Seven Stars. I will use all my power to enforce the fairness of this competition, even if that means coming to blows with Mavet as Elder Gods."

"You said he's more powerful than you."

"He may be more powerful right now, but he does not have my battle experience or skill," she said coldly. "This simulation is now a full-fledged war. The survival of two universes is at stake. I expect the lot of you to use your newfound power and win."

"I may not be at my full power either," Livy said, "but if you come to blows with Mavet, I will fight with you as a second weapon alongside Joey."

"It sounds like one way or another, we're winning this shit. Hell yeah!" Toshiro cheered while pumping his fist in the air.

The entire gym erupted in roars and cheers.

* * *

Everyone left the gym in such high spirits that many of them immediately started sparring with each other to get a feel for their newfound power.

Trude and Toshiro went at it in an unarmed duel for what seemed like hours. Not far from them, Minna and Erica were doing the same. Each pair was soon surprised when each had a third join in. Lion joined in with Trude and Toshiro while Bell joined in with Minna and Erica, both fighting on even ground.

"It looks like those two received the Divine Power as well," Kye said.

"Not only them." Mio pointed in another direction, where Ayaka Kuroe and Katsu Kuroe were engaged in a fierce duel. "Both of them, too."

"Valterri is challenging Eila to a duel. Looks like he was picked," Kye added. "Marseille is joining with Minna, Erica, and Bell. Louise is challenging Perrine. Yusu is challenging Yoshika."

"And I am challenging Mio," Yoshiko Nishizawa said as she approached Kye and Mio.

Mio nodded and flew off with Yoshiko. After they left, Aya approached Kye.

"Hello, Aya. How do you feel with the new boost?"

"I feel incredible, actually," she said. "I, uh..."

Kye smiled at the black haired girl. "You want to spar, right?"

She nodded. "But first, I want to talk..."

"You still are having trouble picking which name to call me by? You may use whichever name you want. It makes no difference to me. I know you are used to Alissa, so use that one if need be."

"It's not just that. I know that the Alissa that trained me is your godly self, but it doesn't feel the same. It's in the future for you, so maybe that's the reason, but the Alissa I know is different from either you or your godly self in this time."

"Can you elaborate?"

"I spent so long training with you that we grew very familiar, but... how do I say it...? It's like the version of you I know is a completely different person than either of you in this time. A lot of it is subtle, but I picked up on it. You, the mortal one, are different, of course, but you still have the same attitude. You, the godly one, are different in another way. The attitude is different, somewhat, and... Well it's missing something."

"Missing?"

"Yes. It's like the future you is both of you in this time period put together."

"Hmm..." Kye mused. She leaned against the wall, crossed her arms, and went into deep thought for a minute. "Come to think of it, Doran did mention something like that a few days ago, too."

"Doran is your husband, right?"

"Yes, and we've known each other for... well a very long time, so if even he says something like that, there must be something to it."

"I don't mean to be picky, it just felt like something I should tell you."

"No no, I'm glad you told me," Kye said. "It gives me something to really think about. Umm... one moment, please."

Aya nodded and Kye closed her eyes.

**_"You heard all of that, right?"_** Kye asked her godly counterpart. **_"What do you make of it?"_**

**_ "Honestly, I've been thinking about that since Doran pointed it out. It's... s_****omething_. I'm really not sure. I can't probe into our own future beyond this war, and I can't see the outcome."_**

**_ "This is alarming. She said it's like our future self is both of us put together, but we technically aren't separate beings to begin with."_**

**_ "Even with all my Nigh Omniscient knowledge, anything on this topic is being withheld from me. I even asked _****her_ about it, but she told me nothing."_**

**_ "I don't know. We both need more time to think about this."_**

**_ "Yes. Whoever thinks of something first-"_**

**_ "-call the other. Right."_**

Kye opened her eyes and turned back to Aya. "Well anyway, on to our duel, yes?"

"Jawohl! (Yes!)"

* * *

"Everyone, report to the Gym at seventeen hundred," Kye's voice rang over the PA system. "There's a little surprise waiting for everyone, but until then, the Gym is off limits."

She turned off the PA and glanced at Doran and Michelle.

"Thanks," Doran said. "I doubt the older generation from '53 will care much for it, but the newer generation might."

"Do you really have to have a concert? We're at war here," Kye asked.

"That's all the more reason!" Michelle cheered. "We gotta give our troops a little something something to loosen them up."

"Yeah, yeah, just go get set up. I assume you two are playing with Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael?"

"Yeah, the five of us are gonna run through a few of our songs. Ariel and Adriel are gonna step in for Holy Flames, one to play the Ghost Lead and one to play the keyboard part Elizabeth can't cover since she's playing four other keyboard parts at one time already."

"Liz is a trooper," Doran said. "But yeah, it'll just be us five otherwise."

"What other songs are you gonna play from your own original work?" Kye asked.

"We're gonna open with Breaklimit, then play A Forgotten Age, Holy Flames, World Destruction, Ascent of Darkness, and Unknown 34. In that order."

"Just six songs?"

"No, we're doing a few covers, too," Doran continued. "After our six, we're gonna do Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien, Yngwie Malmsteen's Blitzkrieg, Yngwie Malmsteem's Arpeggios From Hell, Buckethead's Jordan with the Guitar Hero 2 Solos, Buckethead's Soothsayer, Michael Angelo Batio's No Boundaries, Cacophony's Concerto, and Cacophony's Speed Metal Symphony."

"You got some good cover songs lined up, all instrumentals, too. Well, have fun. I'll introduce you to the crowd when the time rolls around."

"Sounds good."

* * *

Doran, Michelle, and company spent the next few hours in the Gym preparing and doing rehearsals. Doran had Layla soundproof the Gym so nobody would know what they were up to. Once 1700 hours rolled around, everyone assembled in the Gym and were surprised to see a stage on one end of the ball court with Kye standing in front of a curtain.

"Hello and welcome to the Other World Concert!" Kye cheered into the microphone. "Are you ready to rock?! I know this little performance is going to be ahead of your time for a good portion of the audience, but try to bear with it and enjoy the show. Anyway, without further ado..." She gestured behind her as the curtain rose. "SOUL OF THE DRAGON!"

Kye quickly ran off the stage as Doran opened up with the intro guitar riff of Breaklimit, soon to be joined by the rest of the band, minus Elizabeth, who had no keyboard part in that particular song.

Over the next roughly thirty minutes, the band played through all six of their songs. Even though the music being played was completely alien to Toshiro and the generation from 1953, they still got into it enough to enjoy the show. The younger generation cheered, hollered, and whistled as the last song came to an end.

"Whew!" Doran said into the microphone. "We got through that didn't we?"

The younger generation continued cheering.

"This marks the end of our original performance, but never fear! We have several more songs lined up for you guys tonight. Anyone ever heard of Joe Satriani?"

Toshiro and Yoshika exchanged glances that said, "Who's that?"

Rosalie jumped up and yelled, "Hell yeah!"

"Then how 'bout we do a little surfing, yeah?"

"Surfing With The Alien!"

Doran gestured to the band and they started playing.

* * *

"Aaaaah, that feels good," Michelle said as she sunk down into the warm water. "After a hard day of sparring and a good mini-concert, nothin' beats taking a good soak."

"You said it," Doran mumbled just loud enough to be heard.

"Actually, I can think of one thing that beats that."

"Oh?"

"Tomorrow."

"Elaborate?"

"Adriel and I will be unleashing the holy wars upon the unsuspecting Neuroi."

"We're still limited in how much power we can use."

"Yeah, but Awakened State. Dude, I _know_ you are excited."

"Yeah, kind of."

"Don't make me come knock you in the head," Michelle grumbled. "Or better yet, I'll run to Elizabeth screaming that you raped me."

"You'll probably get a belt across your own ass if you try that one again. Actually she did get you that time."

"Hey I got Kye spanked that time, too. It was worth it."

"I haven't forgotten that," the Goddess Kye said as she appeared in the bath and dropped down into the water. "I still owe you for that one."

"It's been months and you _still_ haven't got me back," Michelle countered. "Has Little Miss Rainbow Priss finally lost her edge?"

Kye shot her a cold stare. "Keep that up and I'll remind you."

Michelle cracked her fingers and stood up. "Oh, I kinda want you to remind me. We haven't dueled in ages."

Kye stood up and glared at Michelle. Her rainbow aura flaring intensely and the rainbow colored heptagrams on her eyes glowed. Her purple battle kimono materialized on her body as well.

A translucent white aura flared around Michelle's body, and she materialized her own dark blue combat uniform. Her uniform consisted of an abnormally long shirt with a belt overlapping the shirt at her waist that effectively turned the bottom of the shirt into a skirt that reached just shy of her knees, as well as the same color pants that were tucked into black boots. A diagram appeared on her eyes as well, which also was a star polygon, but was a 20/4 star polygon, which resembled four pentagons overlapping, each turned on its side a little more than the last. Her eye color remained its natural deep blue, but a small white glow surrounded her pupil, as well as an additional glow surrounding the diagram.

The power they were emitting generated so much pressure that it evaporated the water in the bath. All that kept their power from destroying the base on top of them was Doran using his own power to counterbalance them.

"Oh, you _are_ serious," Kye said. "I do hope you'll at least fight at my level."

"Oh no, you're in for an ass whoppin', and I'm dishing it out while you're still weakened."

Doran sighed and teleported between them. He had the same translucent white aura as Michelle, as well as the same design on his eyes and a similar combat outfit, albeit his shirt was tucked into his pants, rather than doubling as a skirt. He had an additional long sleeved shirt that hung down to his knees and was open in the front aside being held together above his waist by two buttons.

"As much as I want to see you two duel, we don't need to start a fight that would end up with a destroyed planet," Doran said adamantly. "Both of you stand down. Now."

Kye and Michelle exchanged angry glances with Doran, but ultimately gave in.

"You win," Michelle said reluctantly.

Kye only nodded.

"Good." Doran gave the two a smile and turned toward the doorway. "Now we just have to deal with that."

Kye and Michelle were so caught up in each other that they didn't realize Toshiro was standing in the doorway.

"What the hell did I just witness?"

"Uh..." Kye was at a loss for words, as was Michelle.

"Busted," Doran said.

"You two are Elder Gods!" Toshiro gasped at his realization over Doran and Michelle. "But... if that's right, then why the hell haven't you three teamed up and beaten Mavet?" His surprise quickly turned to anger.

Doran glanced at Kye. "How are you going to weasel your way out of this one?"

"Well... I could-"

"No," Doran cut her off. "You're not going to mess with his short term memory. You need to suck it up and tell him."

"Tell me what?" Toshiro asked, with a clear hint of anger in his voice. "And don't say some cryptic shit."

"Doran, you know damn well why I can't tell him," Kye argued.

"Can't, or won't." Toshiro glared at her.

Doran sighed and answered for her, "Can't. Whatever, if you're sticking to Adam's instructions, then I'll tell Toshiro myself."

"Who the hell is Adam?"

"Doran!" Kye yelled at him. "You can't!"

Doran snapped his fingers and sent Kye away.

"Whoa..." Toshiro gasped.

"Dude, she's gonna be pissed," Michelle said. "You shouldn't have done that."

"She'll get over it," Doran said. "I wouldn't have to do this if she would just fix her own goddamn power problem. And I _know_ you've noticed she's not her old self yet either."

"Yeah..." Michelle said. "I've noticed. She still thinks like a mortal, despite having most of her power back."

"Anyway," Doran said, "Toshiro, you want an explanation and now is a good a time as any. Come with me." Doran extended his right hand.

"Are you going to teleport me naked? I did just come to the bath, you know." Before Toshiro could say another word, his Wehrmacht uniform materialized on his body. "Never mind that problem."

"You good now?"

"If I can get a legitimate explanation, I'm definitely good." Toshiro took his hand, and the two vanished.

Michelle just sighed, refilled the bath with water, and teleported away.


	25. Chapter 25: A Vision of Portent

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 25: A Vision of Portent**

* * *

**-April 23rd, 1953-**

"And that's everything?" Toshiro asked with a weak voice, his face pale as if Death was to visit him at any moment.

"Yeah, that's everything," Doran said.

"Kay... Kay..." He turned around, staring blankly before himself. "I'll go to my room and..." Before he finished, he landed on his knees, and his arms hung loose along his body. "Rest..."

With a sympathetic smile, Doran placed his hand on Toshiro's head and said, "Let's go."

The two disappeared, reappearing instantly in Toshiro's room, lit only by his nightstand lamp. Toshiro sat on the edge of the bed, and continued to stare blankly before himself. Doran sat down as well and put his hand on Toshiro's shoulder in a brotherly manner.

"I won't tell you what you can and can't do with this information," Doran said. "It's your secret. You can discuss it with whomever you wish, but if I were to caution you about it, it's best to avoid discussing it with anyone shy of an Elder God."

"Yeah..." Toshiro barely mumbled.

"Listen. Don't blame Kye. She's got her own problems to deal with. You overheard how I said she's not the same, right?"

Toshiro nodded slightly.

"We don't know what it is yet, but I hypothesize that she's currently unable to adjust to her greater knowledge and power. There's something missing. Despite that, she's done all of this to help you and purposely kept you in the dark on as much as possible to allow you to live as close to a normal life as you can get. But, when you're dealing with Elder God stuff, _normal_ isn't really plausible. That being said, you needed to know what I just told you."

"Thank you, Doran."

"Anytime, Bud. Just try to get some rest. A certain someone special to you desires to be in your company now, so I'm gonna split and let you two be."

"A certain someone?"

Doran just gave him a smile and vanished. Just as Doran left, Livy appeared before Toshiro, not instantaneously as usual, but with a three-second fade-in.

"I think I know what he meant by special..." Toshiro cracked a barely noticeable smile.

She sat by his side, took his left hand gently, and asked, "How are you feeling, Master?"

"Considering that my whole life may be actually considered some kind of pre-set sham? Great..." he muttered, "but if you're _that_ special to me... I'm so fucking confused... Like intergalactic level confused... I don't know what to believe anymore."

"If there's nothing to believe in - if the world has lost all sense and reason - just believe in yourself, Master..." Livy embraced him tightly.

"That's the problem! I can't! I..." Toshiro felt tears start dripping through his shut eyelids. "Just stay with me..." he whimpered as he hugged Livy even tighter than she did.

"I'm always there for you, even if I don't appear by your side..." She said softly and started stroking his head. "I've always been..."

Toshiro had to take some time to calm down so he could actually talk to Livy _normally_.

"_Viva Namida..._" Livy whispered.

"Did you say something?" Toshiro asked and snorted with his nose.

She conjured up a tissue and gave it to him while saying, "I was just mumbling to myself, Master." Toshiro took it and blew his nose with the volume of a skilled trumpeter, which Livy couldn't help but poke at. "Master, can you play _Camptown Races_ on your nose?"

He snickered and answered, "You really _are_ special... But if you could leave me now, because..." He paused and looked at her, as she slowly started taking off her clothing. "Livy, I know, that you know, that I know, but let's agree to disagree and postpone this, okay? I have to think some things through..."

Nevertheless, Livy took off her clothes, and stood before him saying, "Just a token of gratitude, Master. Remember my naked body well, and remind yourself of it if you have a bad time."

"Ugh... Don't mind if I do," he said while scanning her from top to bottom. "Okay, thanks for everything, but now shoo."

She smiled and said, "Of course, Master," and disappeared.

_What a nice girl... Time to lie down and think my whole life through..._

* * *

"Hey, Kye, where's Toshiro?" Yoshika asked. "We were supposed to meet up after he got out of the bath."

"Hmm, I'm not sure," Kye answered as she glanced over to the left side of her office where Joey was slurping loudly on an Oreo Shake. She was in complete bliss. Kye could only smile at the girl. "Isn't it nice, Yoshika?"

At first, Yoshika didn't understand, but she quickly realized what Kye meant after glancing between the two blondes. "That's right. Joey is one of your daughters."

"She's not only my weapon partner, but also Rei's younger fraternal twin from the Light Kingdom and also my flesh and blood daughter from long before that_._ I was the first to have a child, and the first to have a partner."

"You mean your first lives as Elder Gods?"

"Mhm."

"These past few days are the first time in how long?"

"We've been apart for roughly five thousand years."

"I see," Yoshika said. "That was when the mortal version of Jouten was crafted."

"Yes. Because her conscious was split, she had trouble controlling her morphing ability and couldn't take her human form very easily or often."

"Being apart for that long..." Yoshika glanced back at Joey, who was still engrossed in her shake. "I've only been away from Ayame for a few weeks now, and it hurts. But, being a mother is wonderful. There's nothing greater to ask for."

Kye nodded. She stood up, walked over, and sat down next to Joey. "Sweetie, do you want another?"

The seemingly sixteen year old girl looked up at Kye and nodded.

"Okay. I'll go make another." Kye ruffled the girl's hair and stood up.

Joey grabbed hold of Kye's left arm before she could go anywhere. "Before you go, I know where Toshiro is." She turned her eyes to Yoshika. "Toshiro is holed up in his room. Daddy explained some things to him... In short, he knows everything relating to his Allgod and Mavet, as well as about himself. He wants to be left alone for now."

Yoshika had a look of disappointment about her face briefly, but soon changed that to a smile. "I see. I suppose I'll go bug someone else then. I haven't grabbed Lynne's boobs in a while..." Yoshika turned and left the office with a wave goodbye to both of them.

After she left, Livy appeared in the room. "Hi! Joey, let's duel! It's been forev..." She was struck speechless at the sight of Joey holding an empty cup that had obvious signs of previously holding an Oreo Shake. She couldn't take her eyes off the cup.

Kye waved her hand in front of Livy's eyes and gained the girl's attention, albeit with puppy dog eyes. Kye smiled and said, "Do you want one, too?"

Livy nodded.

"Okay. Just wait here with Joey." Kye left the office, heading toward the kitchen.

"Livy?" Joey asked. "You wanted to duel?"

"Yes! It's been far too long!"

"Mmm, I agree, but after the war, okay?"

"But-"

"Nope! After the war."

Livy gave in. "Okay."

* * *

**-April 24th, 1953-**

The next morning came early for most, but for the night witches returning from their patrol, it was a welcome sight. Everyone returned at roughly the same time. Sanya, Eila, and Heidemarie had just finished changing out of their SFS outfits as the younger night fliers were arriving at the hangar.

Major Vitaliy Gedeon Kistanov, the oldest of Sanya's great grandchildren, was the first to return, followed closely by his wingman and younger brother, Captain Aleksandr Gavriil Kistanov, who prefers to be called by his pet name "Sasha" by everyone he knows.

"Sasha, what a boring night," Vitaliy said with a yawn.

"You said it..." Sasha replied with not even an ounce of energy in his voice.

Soon after they disappeared into the hangar side door, another team of two night fliers landed.

"Hi," First Lieutenant Aleksandra Viktoriya Kistanov, Tori for short, said to the three veteran night witches waiting near the door. "The boys beat us back, didn't they?"

The three nodded.

"Boo," First Lieutenant Aina Inari Virtanen, one of Eila's two great grandchildren, said as she headed toward the door anyway. "Guess we can use the changing room." She stopped short just as she placed her hand on the doorknob and turned her eyes toward Eila. "You saw it, too, didn't you?"

Eila nodded.

"What did you see?" Tori asked.

"The boys. They are changing in the open and are naked right now. I swear Foresight is great in combat, but times like this... I really could have done without seeing your brothers' privates."

"Says the one who had a dirty dream about them yesterday," Tori said with a straight face.

"Tori!" Aina's faced turned red as the three veteran witches stared at them. "It's not true! I didn't have a dream about them!"

Eila leaned forward and glared directly into Aina's eyes. "Tell me the truth, Young Lady."

"But I am!"

Eila relaxed, knowing what Tori was about to say.

"She's telling the truth, I made that up just now," Tori confessed.

"Those are your brothers you're talking about, Tori," Sanya scolded. "Shame on you."

"But you know..." Eila said with a prude expression. "I wouldn't blame you if you did have a dream about them like that. The thought of getting double teamed by them is kind of kinky. And now I'm dead..."

Sanya grabbed Eila's right ear and pulled her away toward the barracks, leaving Tori and Aina with shocked expressions. Heidemarie managed to maintain her composure and merely shrugged it off before heading toward the barracks herself.

"Hey, Aina?"

"Yeah, Tori?"

"Grandma Eila is weird."

"_You_ calling her "Grandma Eila" is weird."

"They _are_ a couple, after all."

"Yeah, yeah."

The two sighed and turned back toward the hangar side door. "Hey, Aina, think they're done?"

"I'm afraid to find out."

"Well... I'm not waiting. If my brothers are still naked, I'll kick them out of the hangar anyway." Tori marched into the side door

"She's braver than me." Aina shrugged and followed Tori.

As Vitaliy, Sasha, Tori, and Aina were leaving the hangar, the last few night witches were coming in.

Kenji Akari, son of Zen, landed seconds before his partner, Hiro Akari, son of Yami. The two waved at the four before making their way into the hangar. Yami, Liliana, and Shadow landed soon after and made their way inside.

As Yami reached for the doorknob, Aina grabbed her arm and said, "Wait, they are changing and naked right now."

"Meh, whatever. I've changed both of their diapers." Yami shrugged it off and went in anyway.

Liliana looked Aina in the eyes for a moment before speaking up, "Foresight is nice isn't it? I see the vision you had of those two."

"What? How?"

"Telepathy. I also see the vision you had of Vitaliy and Sasha. Cheers!" Liliana disappeared into the hangar before Aina could respond.

"Aina?" Vitaliy said. "What vision did you have of us?"

"No!" Aina said as she ran toward the barracks.

Sasha sprinted after her. "Tell us!"

Vitaliy joined Sasha. Tori just sighed and followed after them.

Shadow smiled and thought, _Never a dull moment with the younger generation._

* * *

The night teams fell asleep quickly after going to their rooms. Yami gave Kye a report of "nothing" before lying down on the couch in the latter's office.

"I hate that this mortal body needs sleep. I'm so used to not sleeping."

"You seem to sleep with Takeshi quite often."

"I'm too tired to even laugh at your pun on my sex life."

"Sleep then," Kye said as she dimmed the lights.

"Mornight, Big Sister."

"Mornight, Little Sister."

Yami drifted away quickly, and slept soundly for about two hours before suddenly her dream was interrupted by someone else's.

Back in her room, Eila was tossing and turning. Once her dream worsened enough, she unintentionally broadcast it to everyone on the base.

Eila was floating in the air watching as four powerful fighters were battling a single man. Two of them had rainbow clad auras, and the other two had auras that resembled galaxies. She recognized them as Yoshika, Kye, Toshiro, and Aya. She did not recognize the man they were fighting, but she could clearly see the black and dark red aura covering his body. He had short, spiky black hair and wore an all-black outfit. His eyes had a dark red pupil surrounded by black. Over the edge of the black laid a dark red twenty point star polygon.

"Chaos is the answer," the man said as he held up his right hand and formed a ball of chaotic energy, the same colors as his aura. "Chaos is truth. This world will be erased. Your universes will be erased. Your order is no more. Only my chaos will reign in the void that will soon replace your worlds. Embrace the chaos, for it is the last you will know."

As the man started to launch his attack, Eila abruptly woke up sweating.

_What was that?_ she asked herself. _It was like those times before... like in 1945 with Kye's Black Aura and in the alternate future war with Kye confronting the God King Zalen. It was like that, but the man in this vision... I can't shake it._ She looked down at her shaking hands.

Sanya had woken up as well and was speechless at what she had just saw. "E-Eila? Was that-?"

"I..." Eila could barely speak. "I think so. It was a vision."

**_"Eila, can you hear me?"_** Kye's voice suddenly sounded in Eila's head.

"Kye?" Eila said aloud. Her foresight powers allowed her to see that Kye was contacting her telepathically. **_"I c-can hear you. D-did you just s-see my vision, too?"_**

**_"Yes. Everyone did. Liliana immediately used her telepathy to contact me, then connected me to you. Please come to my office immediately. This vision is serious. The man you just saw us fighting is an Elder God. He's on the level of my godly counterpart."_**

**_ "But I thought the Goddess Kye had no equal."_**

**_ "That's what everyone was supposed to believe, but things have happened. Come along. It's time everyone knows truly what they are fighting for."_**

**_ "Sanya and I are coming."_**

**_ "See you soon."_**

* * *

After discussing the vision with Eila, Kye elected to summon everyone to the gym. Every participant was called there without exception.

Before any explanations could be given, Toshiro pulled Kye off to the side. "What was that dream? Other people are saying they had the same thing."

"It wasn't a dream. It was a vision shared to everyone by our most gifted foresight witch."

"Eila did that?" Toshiro was somewhat shocked.

"Yes. Now, come on. I'm supposed to be explaining it to everyone."

"No need for that," the Goddess Kye said as she walked up to the two of them. "I'll do it."

"Why?" Toshiro asked bluntly.

"Up until now, I've been hiding the fact that I'm an Elder God, not the Primordial Goddess, from almost everyone, including the pantheon of gods from the Seven Stars. They are coming to hear the explanation as well."

"What about Amaterasu?"

The immortal Kye pointed behind Toshiro, where the beautiful black haired goddess was now standing.

"I'm here as well, Toshiro," Amaterasu said.

"It's a party now," Toshiro added smugly.

Before anyone could say another word, the flow of time stopped for everyone aside the two Kyes, and Toshiro. Yoshika and Aya, who were also unfrozen, ran over to the three. Doran and Michelle soon appeared as well.

"What's going on?" Toshiro asked.

"Mavet wishes to speak with the lot of us," Doran said. "And by that, I mean _all_ of us."

"Come," Michelle said as she summoned an orb of translucent white energy that soon enveloped all of the unfrozen party. "I will transport us to the meeting ground."

Before anyone could object, their vision was overcome by a bright white light momentarily. When the light faded, they were standing in a completely grey world devoid of light sources, despite that everything was illuminated. There were no walls or ceilings, only a floor.

A group of black cloaked individuals were standing in a semi-circle around where Michelle transported everyone. Doran and Michelle walked over to where Ariel and Adriel were standing. The goddess Kye joined Joey, and Livy stood alone.

Mavet was standing in the circle with his cloaked partner standing next to him. His partner's face could not be seen, but it was clear that his partner was female. Ten others wearing cloaks filled the ranks. Mortal Kye, Yoshika, Toshiro, and Aya remained where they were, as instructed telepathically by the Goddess Kye.

"What is the purpose of this meeting?" the Goddess Kye asked, a clear hint of annoyance in her voice.

"I have decided to give you a chance," Mavet said. "An option. Your answer must be heard by all of us."

"What chance?"

"I am offering your forces a surrender opportunity. If you take my offer and surrender, I will not destroy your world..." Mavet turned his eyes to Toshiro. "Or his."

"What's the catch?" Toshiro asked calmly.

"I want you..." Mavet turned his eyes to Livy. "And her. I will turn away from both of the aforementioned worlds if you two come with me."

"That's it? You only want us?"

"You may not know what I have in store for you beforehand. That is an additional catch. However, my plans for you two are unrelated to the two worlds that will be spared if you elect to come with me."

"Absolutely not!" the Goddess Kye said adamantly.

"You shut up!" Toshiro hissed. "So that's it? If the two of us go with you, our worlds will be spared?"

"That's right."

One of the cloaked individuals spoke up. "Before you make a choice, you may want to know the consequences."

"Lord Elias, how unlike you to take an interest in the affairs of another's world," one of the other cloaked figures said.

"Quite, Lord Phantom," Elias said.

"Toshiro, your choice will have dire consequences on your world, regardless of which option you choose," a third cloaked individual, a female, said.

"Even Lady Eliana is going out of her way," Phantom commented.

"What are these consequences? And don't be cryptic with me."

Elias spoke, "If you abandon your world and guarantee its safety from Mavet's intentions, you will simultaneously doom it to the monsters you call Neuroi."

Eliana continued, "Without you there to defend your world, the Neuroi _will_ be unstoppable."

"So you're saying that my world is doomed with either option?!" Toshiro asked, almost a cry.

"Don't forget, Toshiro," the Goddess Kye said, "if you go, there is somebody present aside the two of you who will also suffer. If you go, Aya's mother, your daughter, will not be born, and therefore, she herself will not be born."

"Master," Livy said, "I will do whatever you need me to do. Whatever choice you make, I will support you and see it through with you."

Toshiro was shocked. He felt a tear in his eye. "Livy..." He turned to the Goddess Kye.

She sighed and said, "I won't stand in your way."

"If I go with Mavet, my world is doomed regardless," Toshiro said as he turned to Yoshika, "but your world will be spared."

"Do not worry about my world," Yoshika told him. "Make your choice with indifference toward it."

"I can't do that," Toshiro said. "I..." He looked down for a moment before looking back to Kye. "If I go with Mavet, can you send a replacement to my world? At least to give them a fighting chance?"

"I'm afraid not, Toshiro," she answered. "I will only defend your world from other Elder Gods while its creator is otherwise unable. I hate to sound heartless, but I will not help your world if you abandon it."

"He's supposed to be an Elder God's Champion, Lady Kye," another cloaked individual said, this one a female.

"Indeed, Lady Katriel."

"Did you not promise his Allgod that you will protect his world if he is unable?" another cloaked individual added, this one a male. "I would think that if his means to protect his world – his champion – is removed, then you have a responsibility to act."

"Lord Kadmiel, you make a good point, but I disagree. If Toshiro chooses to leave his universe he is abandoning it. As his Allgod's champion, Toshiro acts as his Allgod's ambassador. His choice speaks for the Allgod as well. The Allgod will not allow Toshiro to go with Mavet if he is unwilling to abandon the universe in question. If Toshiro does go, then my responsibility toward that universe is no more."

"Fair enough."

"Do you understand your options, Toshiro?" Mavet asked. "The first option is you choose for Kye to refuse my offer and our war continues. Both Kyes, you, Yoshika, Aya, Maeve, and I are not allowed to know the outcome of the war, so you may still win and save your world, or you may loose and doom both worlds to be erased from existence. The second option will guarantee the safety of one world, but still doom your Earth at the hands of that world's Neuroi."

"Considering the clear advantage you have, neither option looks to save my world," Toshiro said.

"Whatever choice you make will be for your world only. Do not take my world into account with your choice," the Goddess Kye stated.

Two Aganaimaru appeared in Toshiro's hands, and he crossed the two blades near his neck.

"Grandpa!" Aya shouted desperately.

"Is there a third choice?" Toshiro asked morbidly. "I could just cut my head off and you wouldn't have to bother anymore."

Mavet smirked and said, "Death is not your imminent salvation, Toshiro. The two options you were given are your only choice."

"Now I have a choice?!" Toshiro yelled. "I haven't been given the choice to be born who I am, and what I am!" He looked at Amaterasu. "I haven't been given the choice whether or not to fight the Neuroi, or whether I should live or die!" He looked at Kye. "I haven't been given a choice to appear here, and I was withheld knowledge of my being and origin! And now, I learn that Elder Gods are only good if it comes to solving their inter-species quarrels! The Neuroi scourge is devouring my world, and what does an Elder God say about it? I fucking won't interfere! Because what, some kind of cosmic balance would be set off?! Because you have _principles_?! You have the power to create whole universes, and you only use it to turn me into a girl at times! You don't deserve being a goddess of seven or even one star! The most you deserve is a deserted island drifting in the middle of the universe, or being a goddess like Amaterasu, so restricted with the use of her power that she thinks thrice before even changing somebody's hair color! I have fucking had it with everything right now! Livy!"

"Y-Yes, Master?"

"We're going with Mavet. At least he's straight up front with his intentions." He looked at him. "I don't know if you plan to rape me with a cactus for the whole eternity, or simply rip my head off as I stand, but I don't care anymore... Just spare the two worlds as you promised, and maybe mine will somehow manage..."

"Toshiro..." Yoshika said quietly.

"Yoshika... At least one of the two Yoshika's I know will prevail... Have fun, darling... And..." He looked Aya, who started tearing up. "I know that my decision may influence your existence, but just seeing that I could have such a wonderful granddaughter like you was enough for me..."

"Graaaandpaaa..." she whimpered.

Toshiro started walking toward Mavet, but before he made it even halfway, the Goddess Kye appeared in front of him with her back turned to him and Jouten in hand. Her rainbow aura was flared up with an extreme intensity as she prepared to defend Toshiro and Livy from Mavet.

"You said you wouldn't stand in my way!" Toshiro yelled.

Kye merely turned her head enough to glance at him and spoke coldly. "I lied."

"In your weakened state, what could you possibly do to prevent this?" Mavet asked while retaining his calm demeanor.

She dropped Jouten, who transformed back into her human form. Kye held her hands over her chest and slowly pulled out a shining orb of rainbow light. "By the honor of the promise I made to Adam eons ago, I will die before I allow this to happen. You know what this is, Mavet. If you do not allow this war to continue and a fair conclusion be reached, I _will_ use this. It will kill me, but it will allow the worlds under my protection their survival, or at least give them the fighting chance they deserve."

Mavet glared at Kye with an aura of red and black power manifesting around his body for a few moments. He eventually dispelled his aura and said, "So be it. The war will continue." He turned to Toshiro. "Despite that Kye has overridden you, I will still take into account the choice you have made. My offer will stand until the end of the war. If my forces win the war before you are _able_ to accept my offer, I will destroy both worlds, but if you _are_ able to accept my offer, they will be spared." He glanced back to the godly Kye. "You will not be able to hide behind your sacrificial bullshit forever. You grow weaker as time passes and you haven't even realized it. If you wait too long to use that spell, you will lose the capacity to do so. Good day." Mavet and his partner vanished.

"We also bid you farewell," Elias said.

"Elias and I will be watching this conflict," Eliana added. "We look forward to seeing which possible future becomes reality." Eliana, Elias, and their partners vanished.

"Kadmiel and I will also be observing," Katriel said before she, Katriel, and their partners vanished.

"Good luck, _brother_," Phantom said before he and his partner vanished.

Doran and Michelle said nothing and merely vanished alongside their partners.

The Goddess Kye turned toward her mortal self and snapped her fingers, spawning a portal back to the base. "You explain to everyone about that dream."

The mortal Kye nodded.

The godly Kye turned toward Toshiro and angrily said, "Pathetic excuse for a quitter. You should be ashamed. A _real_ Elder God's Champion would never make such a choice. And you think that just because I _can_ wipe out the Neuroi in your world, therefore saving humanity, that I _will_? What's the difference in wiping out one race as opposed to another? You are biased toward mankind because you are one. Don't think for a second that you understand how Elder Gods work. I will not clean up your mess. I will only give you the opportunity to do so yourself. As soon as you understand that, you'll be much better off." She disappeared with Joey.

The only Elder God remaining was Livy.

"I can't believe it. I am told to make a choice, and my choice gets thrown back in my face!" Toshiro slammed the floor with his fist, though he caused no damage to either the floor or his fist. He stood there for a moment before heading toward the portal. "I got some shit to think about." Livy followed him through the portal.

With only the three of them left, Yoshika and the mortal Kye looked toward Aya, who had tears in her eyes. Kye walked over to the girl and held her tightly.

"Aya, I will do everything in my power to make sure we win this war. One way or another, I will make damn sure you don't get erased. Toshiro is just confused right now. He's learned so much recently, far more than any mortal should know. He's having trouble figuring out what to do, but trust me, he _will_ figure it out. Everyone will work out."

Yoshika smiled at the two.

"Thanks, Kye." Aya mumbled, her voice troubled by her cries.

_I mean it._


	26. Chapter 26: Dual Strike

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 26: Dual Strike**

**Chapter Quote: "Under the sea!"**

* * *

**-April 24th, 1953-**

_All things considered, everyone took it well,_ Kye thought to herself while floating high in the sky watching the battle on the surface of the sea. Joey and Aya flanked her on either side. _It didn't demoralize many of them, and most of them came out of it with a genuine will to fight knowing there is a real threat in this war. Afterward, the leaders and I held a conference, and we ended up deciding to put off the first southwest quadrant mission until today._

Aya was watching her curiously as she watched the others.

_ This fort team is led by Minna, Erica, and Trude. It consists of all the 511th, the Karlsland Contingent, Aya, and myself. Heidemarie and the 511th night fliers were allowed to return to base three hours early this morning so they could sleep for this mission. Dawn to 1400 isn't enough sleep, considering dawn is almost 0700 in our location, courtesy of my godly self making this planet different from Earth._

Aya watched as Kye turned her head and faced toward the southeast.

_ The second fort team is led by Toshiro, Yoshika, and Mio, and they have all the 516th, and the Fuso Contingent backing them. I hope they are getting on well._

"Alissa?" Aya called out to Kye. "Are you okay?"

"Hmm?" she responded.

"You're spacing out."

"Oh, yeah. I was. Looks like they are ready to infiltrate." Kye pointed downward at the Guardian Turtle that was about to shatter into fragments.

"Indeed," Aya said.

Kye held out her hand for Aya, which the younger witch took, and the two disappeared. They soon reappeared amidst the battle, after which Aya asked, "How long can you keep that copied?"

"Three hours seems to be the time limit at my current power," Kye answered.

"I thought you didn't use Energy Projection Auras anymore," Trude pointed out.

"Oh, no no, I still use them. Just not very often. The unique abilities Energy Projection Auras have are still useful, after all." Kye smiled at her onlookers for a moment before putting on a serious face. "I'll lead the infiltration team. Minna, I leave the outside battle to you."

Minna nodded.

"We got this," Erica said.

"How many are you taking with you?" Minna asked.

"Myself, Joey, and Aya," Kye answered. "The three of us will be plenty, and we're not gonna be gentle with the insides."

"Are you sure three is enough?"

"Joey and I know each other's moves so well that even my sister admits she works better with me, and Aya..." Kye began. "My future self has trained her thoroughly, so she knows very well how to work with me."

"Wait, if you trained her in the future, then shouldn't that mean we will win this war?" Erica asked.

"Erica being smart? That's rare."

"Can it, Trudy!" Erica pouted. "You know my IQ now..."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"No, it doesn't mean we will win the war," Kye answered. "It means there's a possible future where we win, and Aya has been brought from that particular future, but even that future will be erased if her universe is erased by Mavet."

"Can you explain that a little better?" Trude asked.

"There is a set "present day" in time, this was done by the Primordial Goddess that you learned about yesterday. Until that present day is reached, there are any number of possible futures than can occur. The "present day" in our world is April 5th, 1953, but the timeline is frozen. The timeline in Toshiro's world is also frozen, so until this war ends, neither timeline will move forward, but when it does, the consequences of this war will take effect. That means, if this war doesn't end with our victory, the possible future where Aya exists will be erased as well. Until the end of this war, Aya's existence is safe, and if we end this war, her existence is safe for a while longer, until Toshiro defeats the Neuroi in his world or vice versa. If he wins, Aya's existence remains safe longer, if he loses, Aya's existence is erased there. It will continue like that until the "present day" catches up to her time in her world."

"That's bleak to know..." Aya said. "My existence depends on this war and my Grandpa so much..."

"If you get to return to your world, it'll be "present day" for you, and your timeline will be set in stone."

"But wouldn't "present day" still be in Grandpa's time?" Aya asked.

"You'll be frozen in limbo until "present day" catches up to the moment that you came here," Kye explained further. "To you, it won't appear as even five seconds will have passed."

"I understand."

"Good, now if anyone else has questions... please wait until after the battle." Kye pointed downward as she blocked a beam from below with her shield. "We have work to do."

"Everyone, assume formation!" Minna ordered. "We're taking this battle underwater. Be ready to-"

"MISSILE!" Minna's descendant, Alina, called out loudly, interrupting her.

"Scatter!" Aline's older brother, Johan, instructed.

Everyone managed to spread out as a Neuroi made up as a missile launched out of the water and fired beams in all directions before shattering into fragments.

"That's new..." Aya mumbled as she held up her shield to block some of the beams.

"What was that, Aya?" Minna asked.

"That's new," Aya repeated. "I've seen some similar Neuroi in this war as I have back home, and I've seen some back home that I haven't seen here, but this one was completely new to me."

"Analysis?" Kye requested.

"I managed to get a good read on it," Johan said. "It launched from a submersible Neuroi and shattered as soon as it launched all of its beams."

"From what I could tell," Louise continued, "it appears that it's a special type of drone that uses up all of the energy in its core in one attack, and subsequently is destroyed without having any power left to sustain itself."

"Good analysis," Kye said. "I think you nailed it on the head."

"Here comes another!" Louise reported. "All of our less power fighters need to hide behind somebody stronger. These beams are very powerful."

"I'll blow it away," Erica said.

They waited until the missile broke the sea surface, but even with Erica's quick reaction time, she couldn't hit the Neuroi with her wind magic before it launched its attack. Kye blocked her share of beams with an enormous shield, protecting the less experienced members of the 511th Fuso team. Yusu, however, erected several smaller red shields and absorbed the energy from the beams.

"I only absorbed ten beams, but with how much power they held, I won't be able to contain it for long," Yusu said as she spawned a one hundred meter wide red shield under her. She used that shield to launch a condensed beam from the energy she had collected.

"That's Yusu-nee for you!" Yusu's younger sister, Rika, cheered.

"That was an incredible attack, but it missed the target," Minna said. "Unfortunately, without a Magic Eye or Area Analysis, you're going to have a difficult time hitting the Neuroi sub with how deep it is. It's not visible with the naked eye from the surface."

"Yeah," Yusu said as she caught her breath. "It was a long shot either way, but I figured I could try."

"Minna!" Kye said as she teleported to Minna and placed her hand on the latter's shoulder. "I'm copying your power."

"What are you planning to-?"

"This." Kye flew downward a bit and waited on the next Neuroi missile. As soon as it launched out of the water, Kye already had her the level four energy projection aura, the Red Aura, ready. She used one of the aura abilities to wrap the missile in an external aura, and absorbed all of the energy the Neuroi used while launching its numerous beams, none of which escaped the bubble shaped aura surrounding the missile.

As the missile shattered into fragments, Kye located the Neuroi submarines underwater with her borrowed Area Analysis magic and generated several red shields, one per enemy sub. She launched beams from each shield and destroyed all of the Neuroi submarines.

"Wow..." Aya gasped. "So that's what Alissa is really like in combat!"

Kye's aura quickly changed from the dark red Energy Projection aura to her signature silvery Zen Aura. "Let's go, Aya, Joey."

"Roger!" the two responded quickly as they activated their respective auras, Joey using the Zen Aura as well and Aya using her orange Overdrive Aura. They descended into the water after Kye, closely followed by the remainder of the group.

The defense aura built into the SFS units generated a bubble around their wearers' bodies which was able to hold air for them to breath.

"How much air will this hold?" Trude asked.

"Enough for about fifteen minutes, I think," Erica answered. "But we can't rely on a static number while in combat. We'll use up more air while fighting."

"Resurface every five minutes to get a fresh supply," Minna ordered.

"This is also part of why I only wanted two others to join me," Kye said. "We won't be able to surface for air while inside, so we have to move quickly. Any larger than three will slow us down somewhat. And don't take that as an insult, it's common sense."

"Right," Minna replied. "We'll cover the outside."

"Roger. We're entering the fort now."

* * *

_"With all of those submarines destroyed, we're ready to infiltrate the fort."_ Toshiro paused his conversation with Yuki for a moment as he glanced over to the triumphant pair of Danielle and Michael. _"Danielle's ability with water magic is insane. Doran said that he is ten million times more powerful than me judging both of us at our base power, and that the other Mayas are similarly strong, but I didn't imagine that with their power limited to this world's standards that they'd still be able to pull off such crazy techniques."_

_ "I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see it for myself, Toshiro."_

_ "Just how much war have they seen?"_

_ "The only way to know is to ask them. Maybe they'll tell you."_

_ "Maybe I will ask... but later."_

"All targets neutralized," Takeko Katou said as she examined the area with her Area Analysis.

"Let's move on to the fort infiltration," Mio said. "Toshiro!"

He snapped back to reality. "Yeah, let's do this. Kye recommended that I keep the infiltration team small, preferably three people. Danielle, Michael, do you feel up to joining me down there?"

"Definitely," Michael said.

"We got your back," Danielle added.

_"You know, Yuki, Danielle is pretty hot. She's what, five foot ten with D-cups? And that body is curvy in all the right ways."_

_ "You never cease to amaze me, Toshiro."_

**_"Adding to that, Bucko, you might not want to pursue any thoughts toward her."_** Toshiro and Yuki both heard Doran's voice. **_"She's fiercely loyal to her husband. You're barking up a dead end street. Besides, you're supposed to be chasing my twin redhead daughters, right?"_**

That caught Toshiro by surprise. **_"You know about that?"_**

**_ "Dude, they're my daughters. I keep all kinds of tabs on them."_**

**_ "Sorry about that..."_**

**_ "No need to apologize for doing nothing wrong... well so far anyway."_**

**_ "Are you hinting at-?"_**

**_ "I'm not hinting at shit, Bub. If you want cryptic, though, I can go find a certain blonde."_**

**_ ""You rang?" Kye would normally say right about now,"_** Michelle suddenly added.

**_"I'm good either way. I'm getting back to the mission at hand, I'll talk to you guys later."_**

**_ "Dude! I have boobs, I ain't no guy."_**

**_ "Double negative, Michelle,"_** Doran pointed out.

**_"I'll double negative my foot up your ass."_** The image of Michelle kicking Doran suddenly popped up in Toshiro's head. **_"Complete with imagery."_**

**_"You two are definitely more fun to chat with like this, but I really need to get back to the mission,"_** Toshiro said to them.

**_"Roger dodger,"_** Doran said.

**_"Over and out!"_** Michelle finished.

When he stopped hearing their voices, Toshiro returned his attention to the mission.

"I'm guessing you just had a telepathic conversation with my brother," Danielle said. "You kinda stopped moving for a moment there. You really need to get used to it so you can multitask that and other things."

"Yeah, yeah, let's go," Toshiro said as he dove down into the water and headed straight for the fort entrance, followed closely by Danielle and Michael. The entrance was just like all the other forts, a circular hole on the top of the black box shaped fort.

As they descended into the depths of the black and red riddled metallic cave system, they found themselves in a rather elaborate series of twists and turns. They found humanoid Neuroi around every turn, which were easily dispatched, but they only grew more annoyed.

After a handful more turns, Danielle's temper spiked. "You know what? Fuck this." Danielle pulled together all the water within a two hundred meter radius and compressed it. With the water compressed, and with them being in just the right location, the water from the other parts of the fort's flooded passageways were unable to refill their path.

"Toshiro, although it might look like there's air in here now, it's really just empty space," Michael warned. "Don't try to breath outside of your SFS bubble."

_"Confirmed, Toshiro. It's a vacuum space."_

"Got it."

"Aaaaand, suck on this!" Danielle shouted as she launched her condensed water downward, easily tearing through to the floors below. "Michael, get ready!"

"Yep," he said calmly. As Danielle's water attack dissipated, several smaller Neuroi and humanoid Neuroi rushed up through the holes toward the infiltration team. Michael responded by generating a large magic boulder and throwing it downward at an incredible speed, smashing most of the Neuroi as it went. "Let's roll."

"So, Danielle, what was that about?" Toshiro asked.

"Fuck mazes," she answered quickly as she dove downward through the first hole.

Toshiro glanced at Michael and commented, "I like her style."

"Dude, she hates mazes," Michael said. "You should see her try to navigate a corn maze. She'll just run straight through from one end to the other in a grid pattern until she finds the goal."

"And this," Toshiro pointed downward at the hole as he spoke, "is what happens when she can't just run through it?"

"Pretty much."

"Sounds like a good prank to play on her... Now if only I had creation magic powers." Toshiro smirked.

"Layla tried that once a long time ago when she was fourteen. Danielle spanked her one hundred times for it. Neither Kaylie nor Layla has tried to prank Dani since."

"Even the Trouble Twins are afraid to prank her? Bravo." Toshiro smirked again. "Anyway, let's roll."

"Took the words right out of my mouth," Michael said as he and Toshiro chased after Danielle.

As they went, Michael sealed off the sides of the hole with his earth magic, leaving only a vertical shaft going straight down.

"Won't they break through that?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah, but it'll slow them down for a bit. I can't imagine these weaker Neuroi taking any less than a full minute to break through, so that gives us a pretty good leeway."

"Good thinkin'. I should bring you guys back to my world with me."

"Wish we could."

"Would be nice..." Toshiro mumbled.

"Hey, guys, look!" Danielle called to them. "There's the core room."

"I see the shield protecting the fort's main core from here," Toshiro said. "Looks like we ended up directly above it." He summoned Aganaimaru and charged in. "I'll handle the Neuroi Commander."

"Roger that. We'll take the core out," Michael replied.

When they entered the core room, however, the commander was nowhere to be found. They looked around for a moment, but the rather large room was empty aside them and the core.

"Well then..." Toshiro mumbled. "Not that I'm complaining, but why is there no commander? I was kind of looking forward to a battle..."

"We have to remember that these Neuroi are under Mavet's command. They aren't going to act as conventional as the retard monsters in other universes," Michael pointed out.

"Well, whatever I guess," Toshiro said as he activated his Flame of Kojin. He poured magic into his blade and, with an ear piercing yell, launched his attack. "**REPPUZAN!**"

With an overwhelming force, Toshiro's attack ripped through the shield protecting the core and destroyed the core itself in one fell swoop.

"Yo," he said triumphantly.

"You da man," Danielle and Michael said in unison while pointing their index fingers at him.

"I da man," Toshiro mimicked them.

* * *

"High Commander Maris, this is Commander Mavel," a female Neuroi reported through a private radio channel as she skimmed across the surface of the water, flying away from the battle zone where Toshiro and group had just destroyed her fort. "I didn't make it. They destroyed my fort before I could return. I'm going to rendezvous with Matel as our contingency instructs. Over."

"Message received," another female voice responded. "Good luck, Mavel. Over."

"Thanks. I'll report again after I meet up with Matel. Over and out."

Mavel kicked up her speed to over Mach 20 and rushed toward Matel's fort. _I must get there in time. We cannot let the witches win here!_

* * *

Kye, Joey, and Aya destroyed the fort's core quickly and returned to the surface. After a brief conversation with Minna, Erica, and Trude, Kye contacted Toshiro.

"Toshiro, be on the lookout," she told him. "The Neuroi Commander of our target fort was absent. You might have a second one heading your way."

"A second one?" Toshiro asked. "We don't even have a first!"

"What? You're missing a commander, too?"

"Yeah. It was nowhere to be found. We went ahead and destroyed the fort, so there's nothing else here."

"Same here..." Kye mumbled. "Well, contact us immediately if you see either of them. Standby for now."

"Roger."

Kye cut the transmission and looked around. "Louise, I want to copy your magic. Since you have both lightning and Area Analysis, I want to double them up."

"Of course," the girl replied and flew over. She allowed Kye to briefly touch her shoulder and copy her magic before returning to her position with Yusu and the 511th Fuso group.

Kye held her hand up and tested the power, allowing blue sparks to jump around her hand. "Good. Okay. Now, I want all of our Area Analysis people using their power to look for the commander. There may be two of them."

"Don't bother searching," a male voice called to them shortly before a powerful humanoid Neuroi appeared in front of Kye. "You disgust me. You wipe out my fort and now you wish to hunt me down? I was warned about your kind, but I didn't believe you would be this... ruthless."

Kye glared at the Neuroi, "This coming from a Neuroi? Your race, by its very nature, is destruction and ruthless, yet you call us the same?"

"I call it how I see it. We're not the ones that struck first. We're not the ones that have sought out battle at every step of this war. You lot have destroyed all eight of our forts, both of our hives, and one of our bases. In that time, we have only moved on the offensive _once_. What have you to say?"

"What indeed," Kye said. "I do what is required to protect the people I care about. This may be a mere simulation, but it is what rides on the result that matters."

"Next, I suppose you're going to say you do so to protect your world," the Neuroi replied.

"Your tone implies something similar."

"You aren't the only one who has loved ones to protect. Did you believe us to be soulless opposition? Many of my kind were taken from our world to fight in this battle. What's more is we were transformed into these disgusting _bodies_."

That revelation shocked Kye, and she displayed it well with her expression. "What...?"

"I'll indulge you," the Neuroi continued. "Mark, Malik, Mavis, and Maris."

"I know three of those names."

"They are the three High Commanders you have defeated thus far, plus the one you haven't encountered. You've also encountered six Commanders of my rank."

"I know of Mabel and Makel. The other four didn't give their names."

"My name is Matel," he said. "We are a race of people from a planet very similar to your Earth. We are not identical to your Human race, but similar enough that we are compatible, including our reproduction. We have emotions and we have family. We have the same average growth rate, the same average size, and the same average lifespans as your mortal humans."

"You have my sympathy, but I'm afraid it doesn't change my mind," Kye said with a hint of hesitance in her voice. "The fate of two universes is on my shoulders. Even knowing that your kind have a similar fate at stake, I cannot back down." Kye took a coin out of her pocket. It was about the size of US quarter. "There's always two sides to a coin. The situation we are in is no different. One side is my side wins and we save the two worlds I am fighting for. The other side is you win and save your world. Either way, people are damned. If I could prevent your world from destruction, as well as ours, I would, but it's just not possible."

**_"If I could recover my full power, we could save them as well,"_** the Goddess Kye said to her mortal counterpart telepathically. **_"Without that, there's no way to promise the survival of both sides."_**

**_"We have to at least try,"_** Kye replied.

**_"I continue to try every waking moment, but I cannot invoke the full power of my abilities."_**

"I appreciate your sympathy, but sympathy does not help our fate," Matel said.

"No, it doesn't," Kye said. "Matel, if you are willing, I want you to come with us. I won't disrespect you by asking you to fight for our side, absolutely not. But there is someone I want you to talk to. She probably won't be able to help your fate, but she may be able to help in other ways."

"I decline the offer," Matel said. "I have no interest in anything aside battle." As he finished his sentence a second Neuroi, a female, appeared. "Welcome, Mavel."

"I hope you don't mind, but I was listening to the conversation as I approached," Mavel said to Matel before turning her attention to Kye. "You are, perhaps, the greatest military leader I have ever encountered. With you knowing our situation, and we knowing yours, I propose a proper battle - your best two warriors against us. This battle shall be fought as if it is our last. If we are to lose, it will be an honorable death."

"I apologize, but I'm afraid I cannot fight you as if it is the last," Kye said calmly. "Fighting one-on-one, I will not lose."

Aya flew down to Kye's side. "I will fight alongside her, and I have no intention of losing either."

"Your courage and bravery is admirable, both of you," Matel said. "Let us begin."

Aya and Mavel charged each other, clashing immediately, but Kye only fought defensively against Matel.

Aya and Mavel clashed, each time raising their power closer to their maximum. Aya launched Reppuzan after Reppuzan at her opponent, which were met in kind by a similar Neuroi energy attack launched from a sword generated in Mavel's hand.

Matel launched attack after attack, but he couldn't land a hit on Kye, either with power attacks or with Martial Arts techniques.

"You say you will not lose this battle, but you do not attack!" Matel yelled as he launched a powerful energy at Kye.

Kye gestured at Joey, who teleported to Kye and transformed into Jouten. Kye then said, "**Awaken,**" almost inaudibly and took Matel's attack head on. When the beam dissipated, a rainbow aura clad Kye was left floating with rainbow septagrams on her eyes. She held Jouten in her left hand, and was playing with her coin in her right hand.

Aya saw that Kye activated the Awakened State and did the same with Hikarimaru, after which she activated her Overdrive Aura. She said to Mavel, "I don't want to have a lengthy battle, so I will end this quickly."

"Then I shall respond in kind with my best technique," Mavel said as she began charging an enormous amount of power in her blade.

"**Attou Suto, Dani Sutarui (Overwhelming Strike, Second Style),**" Aya said. Hikarimaru began glowing in a brilliant orange.

As the two finished preparing their offense, Aya and Mavel charged at each other and delivered their blows. Aya's attack broke through Mavel's and simultaneously bisected her from her right hip to left shoulder, destroying her core in the process.

"Well done, opponent," Mavel said. "Before I disintegrate, tell me your name."

"Aya Edelweiss."

"I respect you, Aya Edelweiss. Good luck." Mavel's body shattered.

**_"Kari, I feel better, somehow."_**

**_ "Mistress, that was a very honorable battle. Although you clashed as enemies, you gained Mavel's respect, as I'm sure she gained yours."_**

**_ "Yes. Thanks, Kari."_**

Aya and Kari canceled their Awakened State, having only used it for one minute. Aya instantly felt an extreme feeling of fatigue, but was soon supported by Minna and Trude so that she wouldn't fall from the sky.

"That was an incredible battle, and an even more incredible technique," Minna praised.

"Well done, Soldier of Karlsland," Trude added.

"Thanks, Miss Minna, Miss Trude," Aya said with a smile. The three turned their attention to Kye and Matel, who were still staring each other down.

Kye closed her eyes and asked everyone, "Has anyone ever seen the anime "A Certain Scientific Railgun"? Its Fusojin-slash-Japanese name is "Toaru Kagaku no Railgun". It's really a great anime."

Yusu pointed at the younger 511th Fuso members. "All of them. They keep trying to get Louise to mimic the stuff the lead heroine does in that anime."

"The lead heroine, Mikoto Misaka, is a Level 5 Electromaster, which basically means that if she were in our world she would be the greatest lightning magic user. She is known by the epithet "Railgun" for a technique she developed with her lightning abilities." Kye held up her coin. "It's amazing what even a coin can do when used with that technique."

"What are you planning?" Matel asked.

"I am planning to give you the most respectful death possible," Kye said. "I have a great respect for Mikoto Misaka. I will show you respect as well by performing her technique."

"Do not mock me!"

"I'm not." Kye flipped the coin. As it returned to her hand, she used her copied lightning powers to generate a powerful electromagnetic current and launched the coin at several times the speed of sound while simultaneously generating a powerful shockwave originating from her hand and traveling along the flight path of the coin. The coin traveled so fast that Matel couldn't even react. The electrified coin hit Matel and completely disintegrated his body, core and all.

_I am sorry for your world, Matel, I truly am, but I will give it my all to save my and Toshiro's worlds._


	27. Chapter 27: Upsy Daisy

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 27: Upsy Daisy**

**Chapter Quote: "I don't break rules, I break games."**

* * *

**-April 24th, 1953-**

_Shortly after we returned from the mission, I had Lily and Shadow modify the memories of everyone that was present. I felt bad about it, but they don't need to know that the fate of another world rides on this simulated war._ Kye leaned back in her chair and stared blankly at the ceiling of her office. _I had no clue that the enemy was pulled into this war like we were. If we win, they lose their world, and vice versa. What a situation..._

Kye sat there for a while before finally getting up and heading toward her room. Night had already fallen and most of everyone had gone to bed, and the night witches had already left to go on patrol. She could sense the magic signatures of a few people sitting in the common room as she passed by, but didn't bother visiting them.

When she opened her door, she found a violin case on her bed. She recognized it immediately and smiled lightly.

_ I haven't played you since before I was reborn as Kye Miyafuji. Maybe you are what I need to clear my head._

She closed the door behind her and sat down on the bed next to the case. The case was nothing special, just a padded case meant to protect its contents, but the violin inside was another story. She opened the case, took out the bow, tightened it, and picked up the five string violin. She smiled as she ran the bow across the E and A strings together.

_ Beautiful as ever, Fuyu._

She slowly began to play Bach's Partita for Violin No. 3, albeit with some trouble. She stopped about thirty seconds in and looked at her left hand fingers.

_I have calluses, but I need muscle memory._

She returned the violin and bow, after loosening it, to the case and slung it over her shoulder. A rainbow glow overcame her body.

_ I used the Awakened State earlier, so I won't be able to go far before my power gives out, but..._

She vanished, taking the violin along with her.

* * *

**-April 25th, 1953-**

The next morning, Doran, Michelle, and company sat down at a particularly large table in the cafeteria, next to Minna, Erica, and Trude.

"Have you guys seen Kye?" Michelle asked before shoving a handful of bacon in her mouth.

Erica and Trude shrugged, and Minna responded, "No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen her since we returned from the mission yesterday."

"I see." Michelle paused briefly. "Where could she have gone...?"

As silence fell for a moment, two from the Fuso contingent, Takeko Katou and Keiko Katou, walked up to the table. Takeko said, "Excuse me, I sensed her magic signature last night as she was returning to her room from her office. I was sitting in the common room at the time. I could still sense her in her room, and her magic flared up for a moment before her signature vanished altogether. I went to check her room after that, but she was gone."

Doran looked up at Takeko. "Thanks."

"She just vanished?" Erica asked. "That's... weird. Did she teleport maybe?"

"Maybe, but I didn't sense any warps in space at the time," Takeko answered. "It's like she just vanished. Poof, gone. No trace."

"Can you sense her anywhere on the base?"

"I cannot. I can sense everyone else, except that Shadow girl, but I can't sense her. She's either not here, or hiding like Shadow."

"We can rule out the latter," Liliana suddenly said as she sat down at the table on the other side of Doran's group. "Shadow is here with me, and even the gods can't copy her power."

"I'm out of ideas then," Takeko concluded. "If you go looking for her, please come get me and I'll help."

"Will do. Thanks for your information, Takeko," Doran said.

After Takeko walked away, Liliana established a mental link between herself, Shadow, Doran, and the rest of his group. **_"Could Goddess Kye have possibly helped her disappear? Normal mortals can't detect divine energy."_**

**_ "I don't think that's the case,"_** Michelle said. **_"Doran and I can sense when the godly Kye uses her power. We did sense the mortal Kye's power flare up for a moment last night, like Takeko said, but it was only her power. No help from any outside source."_**

**_ "Would could have happened?"_**

**_"She's definitely not on base,"_** Doran said. **_"I don't know what's going through her head, since we can't read her mind, but I'd be willing to bet that either she wants to be left alone, or something is wrong."_**

**_ "Possibly both,"_** Michelle added.

**_ "What about Jouten?"_** Shadow asked. **_"She might know where the Princess ran off to."_**

**_ "Maybe. We'll go ask her after breakfast."_**

* * *

Toshiro decided to stroll around the base after breakfast, and a plan popped up in his head shortly as he was passing a certain room. He knocked on the door, and received a quick, "Come in!" in return.

He opened the door and saw Kamiko naked from waist up, turning around towards him.

"Mooo... Kyaaaaaaaa!" she screamed at the top of her lungs and Toshiro slammed the door shut behind him after jumping out to the corridor.

_Livy, help me!_

"Master?" she asked as she appeared.

"Is Rei anywhere around, and did anyone hear that shout?" he asked nervous.

"You are of luck, Master." She smiled. "Both answers to your questions are "no"."

"Ooof..." He let out a sigh of relief. "At least nobody will behead me immediately."

"Um... Toshiro?" Kamiko asked from behind the door.

"Uhhh... Y-Yes?" Toshiro asked insecurely.

"Come in, I'm decent now."

"Oh, okay," he said and entered the room again, albeit with closed eyes.

"Uh, look, Kamiko..."

"Open your eyes - I'm not mad, really," she said calmly.

Toshiro opened his eyes and saw Kamiko sitting on her bed fully clothed, albeit blushing slightly.

"Did you like what you saw?" she asked curiously.

"Oh crap... Uh, I mean... Err... Kamiko, you're one year old, I can't just compliment your physical beauty..."

"I'm sixteen right now, Toshiro, and please treat me as such, okay?" She smiled. "And if I were to be technical and go by my original birthday, I'm forty-one."

"Immortals and such... Well okay then... Uh, will you kill me if I confess that I already saw what you have to offer in the breast department before?"

"You did?" she asked, maintaining her laid back curious expression. "When was that?"

"When I saved you back in the canyon after your dear redhead aunts accidentally blew you off the cliff, your bikini top fell off... But after a second I threw my shirt over you!"

She giggled and said, "I didn't know that, really, and I won't hold a grudge against you, since I mistook you for Mom..."

"You thought it was Rei entering?"

"Yeah, she usually comes to my room around this time, and we go on a walk."

"Ah, snap..." Toshiro sulked.

"Nani, Toshiro? (What, Toshiro?)" she asked curiously.

"Bah, I wanted to go on a walk with, maybe a piggyback ride would be in place too, but if Rei will be coming soon..."

"Oh! I want to go!" she cheered.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "I don't want to step on Rei's line of motherly duty..."

"Come on, Toshiro, or the fact that you saw me half-naked could escape my mouth at an inappropriate moment." She grinned roguishly.

Toshiro felt goose bumps on his whole body and said, "Okay, let's go then!"

"Yatta! (Hooray!)" she cheered. "Onwards!" Kamiko grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the room.

Once they made it outside, she jumped onto his back and said, "You're surprisingly comfortable to ride, Toshiro."

"That sounded so weird that I don't even..." He muttered and slowly walked forward.

After crossing the corner, he saw one of the many redheads in the base, but seeing this one made Toshiro slightly easy.

"Yo, Doran."

"Sup there, Bucko? Taking my granddaughter for a spin already?" He snickered. "Should I remind you of her age?"

"Oji-chan! (Grandpa!)" Kamiko protested. "Don't joke like that..."

"Yeah, don't," Toshiro chimed in. "As if you didn't already _know_ I wouldn't do something like that."

Doran shrugged. "You'd hit on anything that's got tits, Bub, but yeah I'll entrust my granddaughter to you for now. Have fun!" he said as he started walking his way.

"Bye bye, Grandpa!" Kamiko waved her hand vividly. "Grandpa is nice, isn't he?"

"All grandpas should be nice guys." He smiled. "I'm a grandfather myself... Sorta..."

"Oh, I wonder where Ayaya is right now..."

"You stuttered," Toshiro said.

"Shitsurei, kamimashita, (Sorry, I bit my tongue,)" she said apologetically.

"Are you okay?"

"Heehee..." she giggled. "No, I'm okay. There's this anime..."

"Wuzzat?" Toshiro asked.

"Anime? Fuso cartoons. They will be really popular in our home country in about fifty to sixty years."

"Fifty to sixty years? How do you know about it now?"

"I have my memories from my life in the alternate timeline. I lived to be sixty in that world, and... Ugh, I took care of my body, but getting old sucks. One of Ayame's grandkids made us watch the stuff with them, and it was actually quite good."

"Ah, continue then."

"There's this anime called Bakemonogatari, and one of the protagonists, Hachikuji, always engages in this shtick involving mispronouncing the family name of the main hero, Araragi. She always replies just like I did." She giggled again.

"That must be amusing to watch." Toshiro smiled. "Come on, let's go!"

Toshiro picked up the pace, and just as he was about to pass the main base building, he heard a shout, "Hey, Grandpa!"

"Grandpa fucking bingo..." Toshiro muttered.

"Watch out, Toshiro, or there's a bar of soap inbound to appear in your life." Kamiko giggled.

Toshiro turned around and saw Aya running up to him.

"Hey, Grandpa, where were you?"

"Wanted to take a walk with Kamiko, is that a crime?" he asked.

"Heh, no... But..." She stared at the short haired girl on his back. "I'm kind of jealous..."

"Oh come on, Aya..." Toshiro sighed. "I bet that in the future, I gave you enough rides for your tits to be flat..."

"Eheheh..." Aya laughed dryly. "Well, I do like them... Well... Okay then, I'll look the other way for now."

"Come with us!" Kamiko cheered.

"Should I?" Aya asked, looking at Toshiro.

"Never enough of my favorite yet-to-be-born grandkid! Come on, Aya!" he said cheerfully.

"I don't have anything to do to be honest so... Let's go then!"

* * *

Rei came up to the door of Kamiko's room and knocked on it.

"Kamiko, let's go for a walk! Sorry I'm so late!" she said and waited a few seconds. "Kamiko? I'm coming in."

She opened the door, and saw that the room empty.

_Where could she be? She knows that now is our usual time for walking... Unless... Oh my!_

Her twin blades appeared on her back as she rushed out of the room.

* * *

"Grandpa, let me ride you now!" Aya moaned. "Xala has been there since we walked into the forest!"

_ "My own granddaughter wants to _ride_ me..."_

_ "Incestuous pervert to the factorial umpteenth power!"_

_ "And Yuki is still Yuki. Okay Lucifer, you can take off that furry coat already, Hell is back to normal."_

"This is a very pleasant experience, Aya. I want to treasure it as long as possible," Xala replied.

"But you know, Xala, Aya was first in line after me," Kamiko said, "and you did jump on Toshiro's back like a Lucchini from that tree."

"And I do only have one back," he said. "Come on, Xala, off you go."

"Okay then," she said, but she lowered her voice and whispered, "Visit me after supper, don't say anything right now."

He didn't move a muscle, as to not raise suspicion from the other girls.

_"Score!"_

_ "Dear me... Yoshika will have to flail you as punishment when we return..."_

_ "She wouldn't."_

_ "But I sure as hell would!"_

Aya gladly jumped on his back in Xala's place and said, "Oooh, so warm! Thanks, Xala, Kamiko!"

"Just don't get any dirty thoughts right now." Toshiro snickered. "I am your grandfather after all!" he said proudly.

She tucked herself into his back tightly and whispered, "I'm worried, Grandpa..."

"We can talk this over whenever you want, Aya," he whispered back.

"Later... Now I just want your warmth..."

"Okay then," he said warmly. "Girls, where should we go?"

"To the mountain plateau!" Kamiko proposed. "The view is amazing there!"

"I concur," Xala said.

* * *

Francesca saw Rei running in her direction, but not necessarily towards her, so she asked, "Rei, what's the hurry?"

Rei quickly ran up to the grabby Romagnan and asked, "Have you seen Kamiko?"

"Well yeah, she went towards the forest over there-" she pointed out through the window "-with Toshiro and Aya..." She turned to her but Rei had already ran off toward the forest.

"Thanks!" Rei hollered back as she disappeared into the forest.

"Hey, unfair! I wanted to grab her boobs as price for the info..." she sulked as she went on her way.

* * *

"My godly Grandma sure has outdone herself," Kamiko said as she sat on a ground and took the view in from the plateau.

"To imagine that I could be one of those Neuroi that we are now fighting." Xala sighed. "Toshiro, I'm somehow at ease knowing that the Neuroi at your world are _just_ mindless drones."

"You're a bit uneasy thinking they could actually be sapient?"

"Yes..." she answered quietly.

"Kye confirmed that they are just monsters, so there's nothing to deliberate about." He shrugged. "I released myself of all scruples when they tried to attack Yoshika and me when we were alone and potentially defenseless in Romagna. When a humanoid Neuroi popped up before me when I was about to destroy a Hive over Amazonia, I simply demolished it before it could even try to communicate. They even tried to convince me to join them, ha!"

"You didn't consider it, right, Grandpa?" Aya asked.

"Of course not... They only spew lies and deception when they communicate..." Toshiro looked at Xala. "It's nice that there are good Neuroi for a change."

Xala blushed slightly and averted her gaze, which didn't escape Aya's attention.

Kamiko quickly ran up to him and said, "Toshiro, throw me up!"

"You can fly, you little squirt." He smiled.

"Oh come on, it's not the same!" she pouted. "Coooooooome ooooon!"

"How high?" he asked.

"As high as possible!" She smiled.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked seriously.

"Yup!"

Toshiro looked at Xala and Aya, and both nodded, deciphering his intentions.

"Okay then..." Toshiro stood up, at the same time firing up his Flame of Kōjin. "As high as possible it will be! Jump on my hand!"

"Roger!" she cheered and jumped on his right hand. "Fire away!"

Toshiro lowered his hand, coiling up and pumping his magic into his right arm.

"Brace for launch!" he yelled and a second later, he launched the small Fusojin with great force into the air.

"Wooooooooooohoooooooooooo!" she shouted in joy as she accelerated wildly, reaching a high subsonic speed in a matter of seconds.

"Woah, nice launch, Grandpa..." Aya said, amazed. "I wonder if I could pull that off..."

"You have the same qualities as I have, just a different constitution, so that's probably possible..." He paused and looked at her eyes. "Don't even fucking try, I can't fly."

"Heehee, busted." She laughed dryly.

"Kamiko!" they heard a familiar voice shouting.

Toshiro turned around while slicing time by a thousand fold. He saw Rei running towards them with a face that Ares himself would call very frightening.

_Oh shit... If she misunderstands this, my ass is grass!_

He quickly zipped towards Aya, and after resuming a normal time flow he said, "Go over to Rei, and do it immediately! Calm her down!"

"Okay!" Aya replied and ran over to Rei with time diluted, seemingly disappearing and appearing again by Rei's side. "'Oi', Rei!"

"Aya? Why is Kamiko screaming so loud?" Rei asked.

"Maybe... Because she's having fun?" Aya said. "Look up."

Rei looked up and saw her daughter still slightly gaining altitude.

"She's not using her aura to fly? Then how..."

"Errr... Grandpa _flung_ her up..." Aya said honestly, albeit hesitantly.

Rei's right hand slowly started going up, but Aya then shouted, "It was her idea, I swear!"

To that she stopped and asked, "Really? Kamiko wanted to do... what is she doing exactly?"

"Ummm... A slightly exaggerated _Upsy Daisy_... Heh..." Aya laughed dryly.

Rei looked carefully, as her daughter stopped midair, enabling her Magic Aura to stay afloat.

"Toshiro! That was fun!" she yelled from three kilometers up. "One more!"

"Your mother will kill me!" he shouted back, and nervously looked at Rei, who was only a hundred meters away from him.

"Oh, hi Mom!" Kamiko started waving. "Don't worry, I'm safe!" She shouted and started descending slowly.

"Hmmm..." Rei pondered.

"You can't treat her like an infant, Rei." Aya said warmly. "Right now she wants to have fun, but she is a smart sixteen year old girl. I wish I could've been like that at her age..."

Rei's hand landed on Aya's shoulder as she asked, "Anything you would like to talk about?"

"I had major psychological issues and a deep trauma before I got here... But there's no need to talk about that, since it's a thing of the past. Especially not around Grandpa, he's really better off not knowing."

"He won't get anything from me." Rei smiled. "I think you would be a good mother, Aya."

"Uh, thanks I guess..." Aya blushed slightly.

"Since I'm here already, I might as well join your merry band of scalawags, and save my daughter from Toshiro's influence."

"Rei... Come on... Grandpa is a good guy..."

"I know that, but he doesn't have to get a red carpet treatment just because of that, right?" She winked.

"Heh... My Grandma really spoiled him too much."

"So let's try to preserve him a bit, kay?"

"Hai! (Yes!)"

"Adding to that..." Doran said after appearing out of thin air. He held his right hand out and gestured for Rei to jump up.

Rei sighed. "Dad..."

"No buts, Missy."

"I didn't say "but"."

"You said it having denied saying it."

"Whatever..." She jumped up on his hand and waited.

"Oh, and activate your Light Aura, I'm gonna give you a little extra oomph."

Everyone aside Rei looked at Doran curiously as Rei's body was suddenly engulfed in a translucent aura of light golden energy. Doran threw her up, and as she reached roughly one hundred meters, he held his hand toward her.

"You're holding your hand up?" Toshiro asked.

"Check this out," Doran said as an invisible blast of energy launched from his hand, simultaneously knocking everyone off their feet and launching Rei higher at a near supersonic speed.

As everyone stood back up, Toshiro said, "I think you just broke the game."

Doran grinned and said, "Damn right. I don't break rules, I break games."

Rei caught up to Kamiko, wrapped her arm around the back of her daughter's neck, and gave her a noogie.

"Owwowwowwowwoww! That hurts!" Kamiko pouted.

"That's what you get for running off without me," Rei scolded with a wink.

"You know..." An idea suddenly popped in Kamiko's head. "Toshiro was cursing earlier."

"He's eighteen and not my child."

"Yeah, but it would still be funny."

A bar of soap appeared in Rei's hand, courtesy of Doran's godly power.

**_"Enjoy."_**

_ They work together._ Rei sighed. "Okay, I'll do it, but you have to distract him."

Kamiko nodded and the two headed back toward the ground. Without missing a beat, Kamiko said, "Hey, Toshiro, one more time!"

"Again? But-" Toshiro couldn't even finish his sentence as Rei threw the bar of soap into his mouth. He stood there for a second with an annoyed look about his face.

_ "Yuki, can you analyze this soap for me? It doesn't taste like soap. It tastes more like..."_

_ "Yeah, it's some sort of petroleum product, but I don't know what exactly."_

_ "But it's flammable?"_

_ "Yes... You don't mean to...?"_

_ "Oh, I mean to."_

Toshiro chomped the bar in half, letting the free half fall to the ground and holding the other half in his mouth for a moment. He activated his Flame of Kōjin again and roared at the top of his lungs in a direction where nobody was standing.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG"

A huge stream of fire shot out of his mouth as if he were a fire breathing dragon.

"Awesome!" Kamiko cheered while Rei, Aya, and Xala only looked on with wide eyes. Doran grinned.

Once Toshiro finished, Doran said, "One sec, Bub, I wanna do something." Doran held his right index finger up and breathed at it, igniting it with his signature blue fire. He walked over to Toshiro and held his finger roughly a third of a meter in front of him. "Alright, take two."

Toshiro snickered, picked up the other half of the _petrol-soap_, and used it in another fiery roar.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARG"

As he breathed fire this time, Doran's blue fire mixed in with his own white fire in a brilliant, and larger, display of fire breathing.

Toshiro stopped short, before he used up all of the soap and traded glances with Doran. Doran nodded, and the two breathed fire upwards in what appeared to be a volcano of white and blue fire.

"Boys will be boys," Michelle said as she appeared. "Might as well join the fun." She used her wind magic and greatly augmented their fire, causing the flames to reach several kilometers high.

As the flames ceased, Toshiro and Doran pounded their fists together and said, "Hell yeah."

"Having fun?" Michelle sang.

Both of them gave her a thumbs up.

"I thought so." Michelle turned to Rei. "Have you seen your mother? The mortal one, specifically."

Rei shook her head. "I haven't seen her since yesterday after everyone returned from the mission. Is something wrong?"

"Don't know yet."

"Wait, what? Kye is AWOL?" Toshiro added.

"So it seems," Doran said. "I was heading out to go look for her earlier when I ran into you giving Kamiko a piggyback ride. Then a little while later, the Kamiko-type fireworks caught my eye."

"Hmm..." Toshiro mused. **_"Can't you just... _find_ her with your Elder God powers?"_**

**_ "I could, but I promised her that I would only do that if it was an emergency. At the moment, I wouldn't call it an emergency. She's a big girl."_**

**_ "Yeah. Well... I don't know. I haven't known her long enough to even guess where she might be."_**

**_ "When she doesn't want to be found, it's pretty hard to do so without divine powers of some sort. Anyway, Michelle and I are gonna keep looking."_**

**_ "Alright. Let me know if you find her, or if you need help looking."_**

**_ "Will do."_**

"We're gonna go continue looking for your mother," Michelle said to Rei as Toshiro and Doran finished their conversation.

"Okay, let me know when you find her," Rei said before the two disappeared.

"Okay, another time!" Kamiko cheered at Toshiro.

"Without missing a beat..." Toshiro sighed. _She's got to be the happiest and most energetic person in the world. Here goes..._

* * *

Doran and Michelle slouched down in the common room with Ariel and Adriel after returning from their search for Kye. They had searched all day and didn't return until hours after night had fallen. The time was nearing 2200 hours.

Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael returned from searching shortly before them, and the last few searchers - Yoshika, Rei, Joey, Kaylie, and Layla - returned last.

"Nobody has seen a trace of her all day," Michelle said. "The last anyone saw of her was late last night, and she just disappeared."

The Goddess Kye appeared in the room. "This is alarming. I can't establish a telepathic link to her or find her with my power." The goddess looked first to Doran and Michelle, then Ariel and Adriel, then to Joey. "Have all of you tried?"

All of them nodded, but said that their Elder God power was of no help in finding Kye.

"How is she hiding so well? It's like she's using Shadow's magic," Rei pointed out.

"If she were, I could find her," Goddess Kye said. "Any of the Elder Gods could. But we can't now."

"Is there anything we're overlooking?" Yoshika asked. "She can't have just vanished completely!"

"To my knowledge, only Elder Gods can hide something from other Elder Gods. And there's two beings in existence right now that can find anything hidden by the majority of the Elder Gods. One is Phantom, the current strongest Elder God, and the other is the Primordial Goddess herself."

"Right," Michelle added. "If any of the other Elder Gods are hiding her, none of us will be able to find her."

"I don't like this," Doran said. "I contacted Phantom telepathically just now, and he denies any involvement. He offered his help and attempted to find her, but he couldn't find her either."

"Can we trust his word?" Rei asked.

"Yeah. He doesn't lie."

"That means the only one that can help us is the Primordial Goddess, but would she help?"

"Not likely," Goddess Kye said. "We'd have a better chance of-" She stopped suddenly.

"What is it?" Yoshika asked.

The rest of the Elder Gods present perked up as well.

"What?!" Rei asked loudly.

"She's here," Goddess Kye said slowly. "She's in bed..." The goddess teleported.

Everyone else jumped up and ran to Kye's room, where the goddess was already waiting outside the door. She opened the door and went inside. Doran, Rei, Joey, Kaylie, and Layla followed her in while everyone else waited in the hallway. Kye was lying on her left side, facing toward the wall. She didn't have her blanket pulled up, and most of her clothing was destroyed. Only bits and pieces of her bodysuit was left intact, particularly around her bottom.

"She's out," Doran said. "She's as unconscious as can be."

Kaylie gasped. "Look at her body..."

"She's got cuts, bruises, and burn marks all over," Layla said. "What happened...?"

Yoshika ran in upon hearing that and started to heal her, but Doran waved her off. He held his hand over the unconscious Kye and concentrated for a moment.

"I'm picking up residual energy. It's residual Celestial Chaos."

"Mavet?" Goddess Kye said. "But, what was my mortal counterpart doing in his company?"

"It appears that the two had a confrontation of some kind," Doran said, continuing his analysis. "Considering the odds, I don't think they fought. _DAMN_ it!"'

"Dad?" Kaylie said.

"Sorry... I'm just a little pissed off," Doran said.

"Can I heal her now?" Yoshika asked.

"It would not work," Goddess Kye said. "With that residual Celestial Chaos power in her body, no mortal magic will do her any good. Nothing short of Elder God treatment will help her."

"I'll do it," Doran said. "All of you leave, please. I'm going to remove the remainder of her clothing before I begin. I need to disintegrate her clothing since it also has traces of Mavet's power on it."

"I leave her to you," Goddess Kye said as she and the others left him to his work.

As the door closed, Doran activated his Elder God power, which caused the twenty point star diagram to appear on his eyes. He waved his hands over his unconscious, mortal wife and disintegrated her remaining clothing. He then disintegrated his own clothing, leaving his boxers intact, climbed in bed with Kye, and pulled the blanket up over them.

_I'll make sure you wake up feeling better, Love._

* * *

After everyone dispersed, Kaylie and Layla were headed back to their room when they came across Toshiro.

"Hey, what's up?" he asked.

"Hi, Toshiro," Layla greeted.

"Hey. Mom's back. She's in bed, and Dad is taking care of her."

"What happened?" he asked.

Before they could answer, Goddess Kye interrupted and spoke to the twins telepathically, **_"Don't tell him about Doran finding Mavet's power on her. Just tell him that nothing is wrong and that they wanted to be alone together. We can fill him in tomorrow, but for now leave it alone. It would ruin his night if he knew the truth right away."_**

**_ "Okay."_**

Without missing a beat, Kaylie said, "Nothing, really. Mom was just out all day, and now they want some alone time."

"Ah, makes sense. A long hard day followed by some personal time with each other is a day well spent. I'm gonna head on my way. Have fun you two."

"And you, Toshiro," the twins said in unison.

They parted ways and Toshiro continued to Xala's room. Once there, he knocked and the door was opened by the blue haired girl wearing only her nightgown.

"I am here as per your request," Toshiro said in a failed attempt to be straight-faced.

"Indeed," Xala just played along as she closed the door behind him. "So about that offer the other day."

"Yeah?" Toshiro said, this time not even attempting to say it straight-faced.

"The offer that involved something you said had dimensions like this." She held her hands a certain length apart.

"Yeah?"

Xala pulled her nightgown off, threw it to the side, and flared her power, causing her body to glow in a blue aura that matched her hair. "I want to take you up on that offer, and give you one of my own. Let's see that _fiery_ libido of yours, if you know what I mean."

Toshiro's eyes went wide.

"I take that as a yes."

_"Yuki, what have I gotten myself into?"_

_ "Gooooood luuuuuck!"_ Yuki sang sarcastically.


	28. Chapter 28: A Silent Witch

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 28: A Silent Witch**

* * *

**-April 26th, 1953-**

Soon after morning came, everyone that didn't already know found out about both Kye's disappearance and the state she was in upon her return. She didn't wake up until breakfast time. That didn't worry anyone, but she didn't speak a word. Not only that, but her expression didn't change even once; she only displayed a blank and emotionless expression.

"What's wrong with Mom?" Kaylie asked. She was gathered with her three sisters, Doran, Michelle, Yoshika, and Toshiro.

"I don't know," Doran answered plainly. "Michelle and I both have tried to break into her mind with our power of nigh omnipotence. Not only that, but the Goddess Kye, Joey, Ariel, and Adriel have tried as well. Nothing."

"What about the higher one?" Layla asked. "The omnipotent goddess."

"I've already asked the Primordial Goddess about this," Michelle stated with a sigh. "She said nothing."

"Doran, you said she had traces of Mavet's power when she returned, right?" Toshiro asked.

"She had traces of Celestial Chaos power in her body," Doran answered. "I assume Mavet was involved, or at least his weapon partner, Armageddon. They share the same power."

Livy appeared next to Toshiro. "I would guess it was Maeve. Lord Mavet isn't the type to allow an enemy to survive a fight."

"Armageddon is Mavet's weapon, and I assume Maeve is Armageddon's name?" Toshiro asked.

"Her mortal name," Livy answered.

Toshiro grimaced. "What the fuck was Kye even doing? She should have known better than to fight either of them!"

"We know nothing of the details," Michelle pointed out calmly. "Kye could have gone looking for a fight, or simply found her way into one by accident. Whatever the case may be, let's not jump to conclusions. Everyone else is already making up rumors about the subject. Toshiro, would you mind calling a meeting for everyone and setting the record straight? I don't want these rumors getting out of hand."

"What should I say?"

"Say the only truth about it we know and that rumors will be met with disciplinary action."

"Can do."

"What should we do about Mom?" Rei asked. "She's unfit for battle like this."

"I don't suppose it matters really," Doran answered. "We can't communicate with her like this. She refuses to speak and none of us can establish a telepathic link with her. We can't count on her to fight, but if she does, just leave her alone and let her do it."

"Is that really the best solution?" Toshiro asked. "We have a mission today."

Before he could answer, Kye walked into the middle of the group, grabbed Joey's arm, and walked away with her.

"Well then..." Toshiro mumbled.

"Hey!" Yami called out as she ran up to the group from the direction Kye came from. "Doran, what is up with Kye? I've never seen her like this before. The 501st girls are worried."

"Me, too." Doran's eyes narrowed as he watched Kye walking away with Joey.

"If I may interrupt," a male voice sounded just before a cloaked man appeared in the midst of the group.

"Phantom? What do you want?" Michelle asked.

"What I want is irrelevant," he said. "The lot of you want to know what's going on with the little mortal Kye. Before you ask, no I can't read her mind either."

"What information do you have?" Doran asked.

"Do you recall when she and I battled long ago in the first incarnation of the Seven Stars universe? Specifically our final battle in the Nexus."

"What about it?"

"She has the same emotionless expression about her face now as she did back then," Phantom explained. "I saw it up close. When she showed up to fight me, she had that expression. She had the same expression until the end of our fight, and not once did she speak a word except the phrase "Zen Serenity". I don't know what was going on in her head during that battle, but through my experience in opposing her, I'd say she's gotten serious."

"You don't think-"

"I wouldn't be surprised."

Both Doran and Michelle grimaced.

"This has gotten the attention of all the Elder Gods," Phantom said. "Everyone is watching diligently."

"Why does that give me the feeling that shit is going to hit the fan?" Toshiro asked rhetorically.

Phantom just smirked and vanished.

"And why is it such a big deal about Kye?" Toshiro asked. "So what if she's acting gloomy."

"It's a big deal because if what Phantom thinks is true, then we're going to see Kye finally regain her full power," Michelle said.

"And why is _that_ a big deal?"

"Because... _Kye is the strongest Elder God_," Michelle said with an intense look in her eyes, staring at the mortal Kye who had just begun sparring with Joey in the distance. "At her peak, Kye can singlehandedly fight multiple of the other Elder Gods simultaneously without much effort. While wielding Joey, she can fight all of us at once... _and win_."

Yoshika, having been quiet, finally spoke up with clear surprise in her voice. "How?"

Michelle turned her eyes to Yoshika. "Partially because of the power you possess..."

"True Zen?"

Michelle nodded. "And partially because she is the only one of us who was trained by the Primordial Goddess." Michelle let out a small smile before continuing. "Phantom believes that Kye will regain her true glory soon, but it's not likely. We can hope, still. If she does, she can defeat Mavet effortlessly and end this retarded conflict."

"I doubt it'll happen that way," Doran said. "But it doesn't hurt to hope."

Yoshika smiled. "She'll do it. Aunt Kye has always been there when she was needed most. She did so much to help me. I truly believe that she could have saved the world in my place, but she pushed me instead. I'm no Elder God or even immortal, but I will do everything I can to help her this time."

Toshiro could only look upon Yoshika in awe.

"I believe in her, as do the rest of the Strike Witches," Yoshika continued. "I think I can speak for everyone when I say we will help her reach her goal." Yoshika spoke with such passion that she caught everyone by surprise.

_"Yuki... she's amazing."_

_ "Yeah... she really is."_

* * *

After noon, the groups assigned to the base assault mission gathered in the hangar. The groups consisted of the 501st, all three Neuri Teams, the Maya Group, the 511th Fuso group, the Fuso Contingent, and Aya, who was assigned to the 501st for missions.

Before the gathered groups left on their mission, Yami, Liliana, and Shadow entered the hangar and approached Mio, Minna, Toshiro, and Doran.

"We're coming," Yami said with a strong voice of confidence.

"Worried about Kye?" Minna asked.

"Not just that, but... I have to see for myself what she does now. I've never seen her like this before, and I grew up with her. She's my big sister."

"Indeed."

"All three of us are concerned," Liliana added. "Princess Kye has never been one to stay quiet, especially in a dire situation."

"All three of us are truly perplexed over this turn of events," Shadow added.

"Of course," Minna said with a smile. "I think I'll feel much better with you three here as well, and maybe it'll have an effect on her."

Minna and the others glanced over to the bench at the back wall. Kye was sitting there quietly, having already changed and ready to go.

"All of us owe her so much," Minna said with melancholy in her voice. "It pains me to see her like this and not know what to do to help."

"Maybe the best help we can give her is space," Doran said. "She knows that we care. One way or another, she always seems to know what's going on. I think the best thing to do is to just wait and see what she does, and support her if we can."

"I agree," Mio said.

"Alright folks, let's get a move on!" Toshiro hollered from across the hangar.

"I guess that's our cue," Minna said with a laugh.

* * *

During the flight to the mission area, Kaylie was getting several curious and confused looks. She was carrying two large bags on her back, holding each one with a shoulder strap.

"What's in the bags?" Toshiro asked after finally giving up trying to figure it out.

Kaylie just winked and replied, "You'll see!"

"I hope it won't slow you down."

"Hmm, I dunno." She made a glancing gesture at the enlarged backpack on Toshiro's back. "I'm not the only one with a trick up my sleeve."

"Oh this? This is just a little present for the Neuroi." Toshiro sighed after seeing Kaylie's fake poker face. "You already know."

"Mhm."

"So you know about the first bomb I made in Neue Karlsland, too?"

Kaylie nodded.

"Amaterasu erased my memory of that event so thoroughly that I didn't even know why I was where I was," Toshiro said. "The Goddess Kye and Amaterasu had a little talk about it and agreed to let me have that memory back for a while."

"What's so wrong with you having that memory? Sure it's technology ahead of your time, but it's too dangerous to use and you know it, so I doubt you'd share the thought back in your world."

"I was just thinking that..."

"Maybe you should ask to keep the memory with the condition that you keep it to yourself."

"Maybe. So tell me what's in the bags."

Kaylie raised an eyebrow at Toshiro, a gesture he responded to with a glare. She gave in and said, "Fine, fine. You know about the Railgun thing Mom did in the last battle, right?"

"It was a technique from some anime in the future."

"Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, or A Certain Scientific Railgun," Kaylie specified. "The technique she used was the signature technique of the lead heroine Mikoto Misaka, a Level 5 Electromaster. She is known by the epithet "Railgun" because of the technique."

"And I'm guessing those bags have something to do with that?"

"Somewhat. I have javelins in these bags. In Railgun, there's another heroine named Kuroko Shirai, who is a Level 4 Teleporter. I marathoned all forty-eight episodes of the anime between the battle two days ago and this morning. In episode 24 of the second season, Kuroko uses javelins and teleports them directly into her targets. Mom paid tribute to Mikoto, and since I am the best teleporter _ever_, I'm gonna pay tribute to Kuroko."

"I hope you're not gonna get all lovey dovey with Mom like Kuroko does with Mikoto," Layla said, half joking.

Kaylie just sighed and ignored Layla.

"You better get ready to start," Minna said. "We're approaching the battle zone."

Kaylie smiled at the thought and said, "Judgment is on the case!"

Only moments later, two enormous naval Neuroi Super-Carriers were visible floating in a large circle. Before anyone could give any orders or take action, Kye took off ahead of everyone in a brilliant display of rainbow colored power.

"Well then..." Minna mumbled before raising her voice, "Everyone, this is the last Neuroi Base before we take down the barrier protecting our final target in the center of the continent. Hold nothing back! All units, engage!"

"Roger that," Kaylie said happily as she broke formation and flew down toward the battlefield.

As the group joined the battle, Kye launched two massive simultaneous attacks, one directed at each super-carrier. One was a rainbow colored Reppuzan that completely bisected the enormous battleship shaped Neuroi, and the other was a rainbow colored energy beam that vaporized much of the other carrier. Both attacks destroyed the cores in each target, resulting in them exploding with a powerful shockwave that threw their fragments all over the battlefield.

"Whoa..." several of the younger 511th Fuso members said simultaneously.

"Holy shit..." Yusu gasped. "Yoshika?"

"I... don't know," Yoshika said in awe. "I don't think I can do that."

"I think Mom just took the "turn it up to eleven" joke way beyond overkill," Rei said. "That was insane even for her! And that was with a copy of Jouten." Rei glanced over to Joey.

"Don't look at me, I didn't help," Joey said before her body was engulfed in the same rainbow aura.

"But you're about to," Rei added.

Joey nodded and chased after Kye.

Yoshika shrugged and said, "When in Rome..." before activating her own True Zen aura and joining the battle.

"I think shit just got real," Michael commented.

"You don't say," Doran added.

"I _do_ say."

"Come on, boys," Michelle said as she flew in. "We got a job to do!"

Toshiro exchanged glances with Aya.

"All out?" they asked each other simultaneously. Both smirked and activated their respective auras, Toshiro using his enhanced Flame of Kojin and Aya using her Overdrive Aura. Each summoned their respective blades and charged in.

* * *

Energy beams and magic blasts of various colors filled the sky above the sea. The more prominent witches were making quick work of smaller Neuroi and using powerful blade techniques to dispatch large types.

While her comrades were busy fighting the traditional Neuroi, Kaylie was quickly dispatching humanoid Neuroi. Layla was following behind her sister, using her creation magic to generate more javelins whenever Kaylie ran out.

Kaylie continually pulled javelins from her bags and threw them at the humanoid Neuroi, teleporting the javelins before they left her hand to instantly attack the Neuroi's cores. Each attack was an instant kill, regardless of the strength of her opponent.

"That is working surprisingly well," Toshiro commented. "Good shit, Kaylie."

Kaylie turned toward him, made a victory sign, grabbed one of her javelins, and teleport-threw it toward Toshiro. Her javelin appeared behind Toshiro, sticking out of the chest of another humanoid Neuroi.

Without even turning around, Toshiro sighed and said, "I knew that one was there."

"Too slow!" Kaylie stuck her tongue out and patted her behind in Toshiro's direction.

"Hey, don't give me ideas. Last thing I need on the battlefield is a boner."

Layla sighed and said, "And suddenly the topic is sex related... Kaylie here comes more!"

"I'm on it!" Kaylie shouted as she grabbed four more javelins, two in each hand.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sanya and Eila were fighting several humanoid Neuroi as well as large type Neuroi that resembled dragons.

"Sanya, above you!" Eila warned as she fired an arrow from her bow in a direction that had no enemies, however once her arrow reached a certain distance, one of the dragon Neuroi flew right into the arrow's path. The arrow pierced the dragon Neuroi's chest and hit its core, destroying it.

Sanya gripped her mace tightly and attacked the humanoid Neuroi that was above her, shattering it, core and all. Several more Neuroi swarmed her, a few getting picked off by Eila's archery and the rest getting demolished under Sanya's oversized mace.

Amidst the many dragon Neuroi, a much larger one descended toward the night witch pair and _breathed_ an enormous beam of energy at them. Sanya reacted by swatting the beam away with her mace and Eila shot a magic-imbued arrow up through the Neuroi's mouth, shattering the core that rested in its head. However, that Neuroi possessed multiple cores. Sanya managed to detect the energy output in each core and was able to give Eila a general location for another of the cores, this one in the Neuroi's tail.

Eila wasted no time in predicting the Neuroi's path with her Foresight Magic and shot it with another magic-imbued arrow. The remaining cores condensed into a single larger core, which Sanya was able to detect more easily due to its higher energy signature. Although she couldn't actually see it like a witch with the Magic Eye, she could pinpoint it with enough accuracy to launch an attack.

Sanya poured her magic into her oversized mace and charged at the Neuroi, using her Magic Aura to completely ignore the barrage of beams coming her way and her mace to deflect any her Magic Aura could not.

"Vernichtung!" Sanya shouted as she slammed her mace into the enormous dragon Neuroi's chest. The Neuroi's body completely shattered, leaving only a cracked core behind for a moment before it also shattered.

"Way to go, Sanya!" Eila cheered, a notion Sanya smiled at.

* * *

In another part of the battlefield, Minna was observing the battle. She watched as Kye cleared out a surprisingly large amount of Neuroi in quick succession while never using anything lower than her True Zen abilities.

Minna noticed that Kye had cleared out virtually all the Neuroi in the center of the battlefield and stopped for a moment.

_What is she doing now? There's still plenty of Neuroi to attack, and she's getting attacked with Neuroi beams and completely ignoring it. Nothing is getting through her rainbow aura, so surely she's not done._

Kye held her left hand out and formed an orb of rainbow energy that grew to the size of a basketball. She dropped the rainbow colored orb into the sea, where it disappeared from sight for a few seconds before it exploded, vaporizing all the water within a one kilometer diameter as well as any Neuroi caught in the blast. The force field surrounding the underwater Neuroi base was somewhat visible, albeit still at least twenty meters further underwater than the blast range of Kye's attack.

Minna saw that and relayed the message to Toshiro. "Toshiro, now's the time to infiltrate."

"Yeah," Toshiro replied. "Shadow, can you get me inside? I have a little present for the Neuroi down there. If you can get me through the force field and deep into the base, we can drop this present and watch the fireworks."

"Yes, I can," Shadow answered in her usual quiet tone. "I'm coming to you."

"No, meet me in the air directly above the base."

"Roger."

The two flew down toward the base from opposite directions and met up. Kye happened to be floating nearby and watched as the two vanished from sight.

"I'll never get used to this," Toshiro commented as the two descended through the force field and passed through a large Neuroi as if it were not there. "Your ability is... incredible to say the least."

"Thank you, Toshiro," Shadow said quietly.

The two found their way into the base, following through the massive hole in the center, but phasing through the floors instead of traversing the three-dimensional labyrinth that is the insides of the Neuroi base. Once they reached the core chamber, Toshiro pulled the oversized backpack off his back and extracted a large capsule shaped device, approximately two meters in length and one meter in diameter.

"I'll need just a moment," Toshiro said as he laid the capsule device down. "This bomb will blow this base sky high." Toshiro opened the device and pulled out a timer. "How fast can we move inside your shadow magic bubble? Can we get to the surface in under a minute?"

"Yes, if I grab your hand and fly out at high speed we can phase through to the surface in seconds," Shadow explained.

"Alright, good," Toshiro said. "Ninety seconds should be enough." He set the timer, pushed it back into capsule, and sealed it up. "The timer will activate once I send my magic through the device, and it'll generate its own barrier to protect itself from anything short of the commander."

"When you're ready, you should close your eyes. Phasing through several objects at high speed can be disorienting."

"What about you? You'll need to see to know when we're high enough."

"No. I have a telepathic link with Lily. She can sense where I'm at so long as I let her."

"Ah, so she'll tell you when we're clear?"

Shadow nodded and held out her hand.

"We're all set." Toshiro placed his hand on the capsule and fed it some magic. It soon glowed with his fiery magic. He quickly grabbed Shadow's hand and closed his eyes. He soon felt the sensation of being pulled upward at a high speed for a few seconds before Shadow released his hand.

The two opened their eyes and found that they were floating in front of Yami and Liliana.

"I set a powerful bomb down there. If my calculations are correct, the blast radius will be just under six kilometers. Since the bomb is about two kilometers down, we'll need to climb above an altitude of at least four thousand meters."

"Hmm, yeah. Although the blast radius will be diminished after it vaporizes the Neuroi base and goes through the water, it's still a good idea to be at the minimum distance required if it was exploded in midair," Yami agreed.

Minna spoke up over the radio to everyone, "All units climb to a minimum altitude of four thousand meters or higher to escape the blast radius of Toshiro's bomb."

_"Yuki, time?"_

_ "Sixty seconds."_

"Yuki says we have sixty seconds until detonation, so get climbing!" Toshiro ordered.

Everyone quickly flew upwards, escaping the blast radius in less than five seconds, a feat which required a minimum speed of roughly Mach 3.

Once everyone was at the required altitude, several quickly noticed that Kye had not moved from the same spot she was floating at before dropping the exploding rainbow orb into the water.

"Kye!" Yami shouted over the radio. "You have to climb up here!"

"Thirty seconds," Minna counted down.

"Kye!"

"Twenty seconds."

Yami started to fly down toward Kye, but was held back by Liliana. "You'll just put yourself in harm's way."

"I don't know what's going through her mind, but she'll be fine," Joey said. "At her current power, while using the True Zen Aura, she can easily withstand a ten megaton blast."

"How did you know how much power the bomb has?" Toshiro asked.

"I read your mind."

"And here I thought that mind reading bullshit was behind me," Toshiro mumbled.

"I only looked for the information I needed, nothing more."

"At least you didn't poke around..."

"Joey, I know you say Mom will survive that easily, but... I don't want to take that risk!" Kaylie said as she teleported down to Kye's location.

"Ten seconds," Minna reported.

"Mom!" Kaylie said as she grabbed Kye's arm. "Let's go!" Kaylie attempted to teleport, but her power didn't work. Kye didn't even look at Kaylie, instead forcibly teleporting the girl back up to the higher altitude.

Kaylie appeared in front of Toshiro. "What the...?"

"Time's up," Minna announced, but there was no sign that the bomb exploded.

"I guess I fudged up the timer," Toshiro said. "Wait, how did she just teleport you? Aren't you and Liliana the only two out here that can use space magic?"

"Yeah," Kaylie confirmed.

"She didn't use space magic to do it," Yoshika said as she touched Toshiro's arm and teleported him a few meters away. "She used True Zen."

"Wait, what?" Toshiro said. "Never mind, I'll ask later. Shadow, can you take me back to the bomb?"

"Yes," she answered as she grabbed Toshiro's arm, enveloped the two in a bubble of her Shadow Magic, and flew downward, not stopping until they returned to the core chamber in the base.

Toshiro quickly found the bomb and removed his magic so he could safely check the timer. He opened the capsule and pulled out the timer, but it was flashing at zero.

"Well, the timer is broken. I guess that's what I get for using this futuristic technology that I haven't studied enough. It'll have to be manually detonated. Shadow, can you pull us into your shadow world the split second I set this bomb off? It will have a delay of about half a second."

"Yes."

Before Toshiro could act, a rainbow glow suddenly filled the chamber. Kye had teleported down to them.

"You should go back to the surface, I'm about to detonate this thing," Toshiro said.

She only looked at him with emotionless eyes without speaking a word.

"Will you fucking say something? This silent treatment you're giving everyone is getting old."

Kye didn't respond.

"Hime-sama? (Princess?)" Shadow asked. "Daijoubu desu ka? (Are you okay?)"

Again, Kye didn't speak or change her expression, but she briefly ruffled Shadow's hair before teleporting the girl away.

Kye turned toward Toshiro, who shot her an angry glare. "Tell me what's going on!"


	29. Chapter 29: Blessing

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 29: Blessing**

* * *

**-April 26th, 1953-**

Kye turned toward Toshiro, who shot her an angry glare. "Tell me what's going on!"

Kye remained silent, but touched her outstretched right index and middle fingers to Toshiro's forehead. His sight was overcome by a white light.

* * *

**-April 24th, 1953-  
-Flashback-  
-Late that night after Kye disappeared-**

As the light faded, his sight no longer saw the core chamber, but Kye's room back at their base. He noticed immediately that both his and Kye's bodies were transparent and had a dim rainbow glow.

"How did we get here?" Toshiro asked. "You're the mortal Kye, right? How the hell are you doing this? Even Kaylie with all her spatial abilities can't teleport this far with mortal power."

Kye shook her head and pointed at the door, where a non-transparent and non-glowing version of herself walked in. She saw a violin on her bed.

_"I haven't played you since before I was reborn as Kye Miyafuji. Maybe you are what I need to clear my head."_

"She didn't move her mouth, but I heard her," Toshiro said. His words gained no reaction from the solid Kye, though the transparent Kye merely pointed at the violin as the solid Kye pulled it out from the case.

The second Kye picked up the bow, prepared it, and played a note on the violin.

_"Beautiful as ever, Fuyu."_

"Fuyu?" Toshiro mused aloud. "That's winter in Fusogo."

The second Kye began playing. Toshiro recognized the piece as Bach's Partita for Violin No. 3, though she did have a little trouble with it.

"Is she out of practice?"

_ "I have calluses, but I need muscle memory."_

The second Kye returned the violin and bow to the case, slung the case over her shoulder, and started glowing rainbow.

"Seen this before..."

_ "I used the Awakened State earlier, so I won't be able to go far before my power gives out, but..."_

She vanished.

Toshiro turned to the Kye that brought him there and asked, "So what's up with this? Why aren't we blowing up a Neuroi base right now?"

**_ "Do not worry. Time has been frozen so that she can show you what happened while she was away from the night of the 24th to the night of the 25th."_**

Both Toshiro and Kye heard that telepathic message. It was an unfamiliar female voice. Toshiro replied, **_"I don't recognize this voice, but there's only a handful of people who can do freeze time. Which Elder God are you?"_**

**_ "I will introduce myself to you soon. For now, watch the memory."_**

**_ "I'll hold you to that, Mystery Woman."_**

Kye touched Toshiro's arm, and their vision blurred out to white as she transported them to another place in the memory. When their vision was restored, they were standing in a forest which Toshiro recognized.

"I came here with Kaylie and Layla when we went camping in the mountains," Toshiro said as he looked around. "There's a small pond not far from here."

Kye pointed to a clearing nearby where her memory self was sitting on a large rock playing the violin. Kye walked toward the clearing with Toshiro following.

_"Sonata No. 1 in G minor,"_ they heard the Memory Kye think as she began playing. Over the course of her playing, she mentally noted each piece she played. _"Partita No. 1 in B minor. Sonata No. 2 in A minor. Partita No. 2 in D minor. Sonata No. 3 in C major. Partita No. 3 in E major."_

Her technique improved quickly as she played, as if her fingers were remembering an art long forgotten.

Toshiro looked over at the silent Kye and noticed that she was smiling.

_Two and a half hours of violin is what it took to get an expression out of her?_

She wasn't smiling long before she knelt down, holding her head as if in pain. As the pain subsided, Kye stood back up once again with an emotionless expression.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow, but dismissed the thought as the Memory Kye moved on to another piece. She started playing the Toccata and Fugue in D minor on the violin, a piece Toshiro knew was originally played on a pipe organ.

When she finished that piece, she moved on again to another. This time to one Toshiro didn't know. As she started playing, her True Zen Aura flared to life. She used her magic to simulate accompaniment instruments. _Sailor Moon S OST No.5 Tenou Haruka to Kaiou Michiru Part 3. No 11 Uranus, Soshite, Neptune Part 1. Part 2. Part 4._

The last piece she played was also one Toshiro had never heard. _Winter Sonata for Violin, RCW 58._ Upon finishing that piece she stretched, returned the violin to its case, and jumped down from the rock.

"That's so much better," she said as she prepared to teleport. Before she could, a cloaked figure, obviously female, emerged from the forest and approached her.

**_"You are about to learn of a secret that was erased from the memories of everyone who participated in the battle earlier that day,"_** the mystery voice said to Toshiro and Kye.

"Who are you?" Memory Kye asked the cloaked figure cautiously.

The female figure revealed her face to Memory Kye, but Toshiro and Kye could not see.

Memory Kye realized who it was and asked another question, "You? But... What are you doing here?"

"I have come to meet with you," the woman said. Her voice was the same as that of the one that spoke to Toshiro and Kye telepathically. "You learned today that the fate of a third universe is at stake with this simulated war."

"Yes."

**_ "What is this about?"_** Toshiro asked the mystery woman, though she didn't respond.

"The universe that your opponents have been pulled from is one under my protection."

"But, that should be impossible. None of the Elder Gods can-"

"Indeed," the woman said, interrupting Memory Kye. "Had I not allowed him to, Mavet would have been unable to take anyone from that particular universe. However, this is not a matter of whether or not he could do it. It is a matter of consequence. He wants revenge upon me. When your other self proposed the simulated war to him, he gained the thought of completing two objectives in one move. I knew he would have that thought before he even had the thought. I allowed him to take those people from that world and threaten it with destruction, an act that was his choice, and his choice will have consequences."

"I understand."

Toshiro grew angry at the thought of Mavet adding the fate of a third universe, but listened carefully as the woman spoke.

"In light of what you have told me, what do you want?" Memory Kye asked.

"I will give you a choice between two options, and I will not tell you the outcome of either, only the relevant probability of each," she said. "The first option is that you continue this war as you are now. The probability of your victory is fifteen percent. The second option is that you continue this war with a blessing from me. The probability of your victory is twenty five percent with my blessing. If you choose this option, I will give the choice to Toshiro as well. If he accepts the blessing, your probability of victory will increase to thirty five percent."

"What will the blessing do?"

"You will gain full mastery of your abilities. Specifically, you will have complete control over your True Zen."

"But with a mortal body that has had very little training for it... to maintain control of True Zen will require most of my focus all the time."

"To gain anything, there is always a price to pay, and you have only recently begun training your skill with True Zen. The cost for complete mastery is high for True Zen, but even higher with little training beforehand."

"The cost will be so high that I won't be able to speak or express emotions. And if I try..."

"You will experience a sharp pain until your focus returns to maintaining control of your power."

"Fifteen percent is not good odds..." Memory Kye mumbled. "You already know which choice I will make."

"Yes. However, I want to hear you vocalize that choice."

"So be it. I choose option two."

The woman raised her hand and glowed in the same rainbow aura that Kye and Yoshika possessed. She touched her fingers to Memory Kye's head and gave her the blessing. Memory Kye's face soon lost its emotion and she stopped speaking.

"With the blessing, I transferred the knowledge of the reason I gave you this option. One consequence of Mavet's action is that he has angered me. However, I will not punish him myself. With my blessing, you have the potential to do so yourself. With my blessing, your mind cannot be penetrated by Elder Gods, nor can their nigh omnipotent power touch you. Only by your will can their power affect you. To do battle with you, they must reduce themselves to what I consider mortal standards, which is anything lower than that of Elder God level."

Memory Kye made no reaction to the woman's words.

"I now require a moment with Toshiro," the woman said as the memory world lost its color, leaving Memory Kye frozen, but not effecting the real Kye or Toshiro. The woman approached Toshiro. "I promised an introduction, and I will give it to you." She raised her hood just enough so that Toshiro could see her face. "I am the one you know as the Primordial Goddess."

The color in Toshiro's skin paled as he gulped. "The-the..."

"Yes. From watching this memory, you know the situation. I now give you the same choice as I gave Kye. Her choice has increased the probability of your victory to twenty five percent. If you make the same choice, that probability will increase to thirty five percent. The cost of you accepting my blessing isn't as drastic. Your power is that of Celestial Order. It is not as difficult to manage as True Zen, but because you have very little experience with it you will still be required to divert the majority of your attention to maintaining control of your power."

"Will I be able to speak or have emotion?"

"Yes, however in somewhat limited fashion. You will be able to speak normally, but if you speak too much in a short time or subject yourself to a certain level of emotion, you will experience a sharp pain just as Kye did when she smiled at the violin performance. Your emotional limit will not be as significant. A good emotional example for you is your temper - if you become too angry, your control will weaken and you will experience pain. Knowing the cost, what is your choice?"

"If it's for more power, I accept the terms. I will fight, and I will win."

"Confidence is important, but overconfidence is virulent."

"I know."

"With your choice," she began as she touched Toshiro's head, "I give you my blessing. This blessing will give you complete mastery of Celestial Order until your conflict with Mavet is complete. After which, the blessing will fade and you will return to your original state."

"Can I not keep the blessing afterward?"

"I am giving you this blessing because I am angry with Mavet. After the ordeal, should you survive it, you will have the opportunity to train and master your power the natural way."

"I was told that I will not get to keep the same level of power when I return to my world after this war. Will I be strong enough to defeat the Neuroi? Will I still know the techniques I learned?"

"You will be faced with a choice, should you be victorious in this simulated war. Whether you keep the knowledge, part of it, or none of it will ultimately be your choice. You will not know for certain which choice you will make until the moment to choose comes. Beyond this, I will say no more about your future. Your future is still yours to write."

"But you already know the future."

"I know of an infinite number of futures, and have chosen not to know which specific future will be written into history, for now. I want entertainment for myself sometimes, and I find entertainment in seeing which future becomes reality." The goddess removed her fingers from Toshiro's head. "You now have my blessing. I will now resume this memory and return to my conversation with the past Kye. You should know that because I am omnipotent and omniscient, I know every thought you have had, are having, and will have. Contacting me is simple, but unlike with the Elder Gods, I will likely not respond."

The color of the memory world resumed, and the Primordial Goddess returned to her previous conversation with Memory Kye.

"Toshiro has made his choice. You will find out what that choice is later when you decide to show him your memory of this event." The Primordial Goddess created a portal and gestured at it as she continued speaking, "If you wish to test your abilities, Maeve is willing to have a sparring match with you. This match will have no consequences beyond injuries you may gain. No deaths will occur from this match, and the outcome will have no effect on the simulation. Speak your question now. You will feel no pain."

"I wish to train alone first before sparring with Maeve."

"Entering this portal will take you to a place where you may train with no limits. You may invoke the Awakened State without repercussion."

"But Joey is back at the base."

"While at the location through this portal, you will be able to summon a copy of the weapon form of Jouten that is capable of the Awakened State. Once you are ready to spar with Maeve, another portal will open that will lead to her."

"Thank you."

Memory Kye walked through the portal without another moment of hesitation. The Primordial Goddess then closed the portal, waved at Toshiro and the real Kye, and disappeared.

The real Kye touched Toshiro's arm and transported them.

* * *

The two arrived in a bleak, dark world. The skies were dark red and the ground charred. There were no trees or any sign of life in sight, only charred rock formations littering the uneven land.

Standing opposite of each other was Memory Kye and the one she was meant to fight. Kye's opponent was a young woman with an appearance of roughly twenty years old. She wore clothing much more casual and simple that what Toshiro was expecting - a pair of black jeans, a long sleeve black t-shirt, black sneakers, and fingerless black gloves. Her black hair reached no further than her shoulders, and her unnaturally dark red eyes were piercing. She had the same twenty point star polygon design on her irises as the other Elder Gods. Her pupils and the design on her irises glowed with a red slightly lighter than her dark red irises.

The young woman held in her right hand a black greatsword with four Hebrew words engraved in red, three on the blade, spaced out evenly from the tip to the guard, and one on the hilt that was partially obscured by her hand. The guard was red, as was the sharp, two pronged pummel. The engraved Hebrew words read "Pain", "Despair", and "Ruin". The partially obscured word could be made out as "Armageddon" as the young woman shifted her hand.

"I am Maeve, consort of my Lord Mavet," the woman said with a calm, soft, yet assertive voice. "You may also call me Armageddon, the Whisper of Chaos, as my weapon form is known. It has been a great many eons since we have crossed blades, Lady-."

"_Do not_ speak that name!" Memory Kye said sharply, quickly interrupting Maeve having anticipated Maeve's use of the name Kye was known as long before her life as Kye Akari or Kye Miyafuji. She collapsed to her knees in pain briefly after speaking.

"The power of True Zen is unfathomable," Maeve said. "It requires so much attention controlling it that it literally hurts your mortal body to divert your attention even to something as second nature as speaking. I'm not a sadist, so I'll respect your wishes and suggest that we begin." She began to emit an aura of powerful dark red energy. "The power of True Zen wielded by the mortal form of Kye Akari versus the power of Celestial Chaos. Begin!"

Memory Kye vanished instantly, before Maeve could act, and appeared in front of her in midswing with her rainbow aura already flared to life. Maeve blocked the attack with her sword, but was thrown backward through the air from the force of the attack. Kye quickly followed up by launching a powerful beam of rainbow energy, using her blade as a catalyst. The beam soon dissipated, leaving everything in its path vaporized, though Maeve had since teleported.

In the same instant, Kye vanished and Maeve appeared where Kye was standing with her sword in a powerful downward swing. Maeve's attack hit the ground, but she quickly recovered as Kye reappeared. The two clashed, resulting in a powerful shockwave that threw both back a fair distance.

Both fighters disappeared before they slowed down and met up with another powerful clash, this time both stood their ground, though the ground itself crumbled under their feet. Maeve's black and red chaotic energy engulfed her weapon as she began to push Kye back, but Kye responded in kind by imbuing her own blade with rainbow energy.

"**Gensuto.**"

Kye vanished, reappearing behind Maeve to deliver a standard downward cut. Maeve managed to block it, but Kye teleported to Maeve's left side and landed a direct hit with an upward slash on Maeve's left hip. In a series of teleports and slashes, Kye attacked Maeve a total of twelve times before completing the technique, landing six of her blows. She teleported a short distance away once she finished.

Maeve was left with the cut on her hip, leaving her pants torn in that spot, as well as a cut on her right arm just above the elbow, a cut on her right leg just above the knee, a nasty cut on her back, a light cut across her cheek, and a cut on the backside of her left hand. Kye came out of the technique with a few scraps of her own, but Maeve took the worst.

"Nice move," Maeve complimented as she flared her aura of chaotic energy for a moment, causing her wounds to burn closed.

Kye simply healed herself with her True Zen magic, but was unable to completely heal due to having Maeve's chaotic energy in the cuts.

"My turn!" Maeve said as she charged forward at Kye with her sword already charged with chaotic energy.

She brought the sword down on Kye, though Kye blocked it with her own blade. Maeve already had a ball of dark red and black energy prepared in her left hand, which Kye saw coming, but couldn't properly counter against. Kye teleported away, but Maeve sent the chaotic orb at Kye from a distance.

Having enough time to react properly, Kye erected a shield of rainbow energy, but Maeve's orb vanished before hitting the shield. It reappeared behind Kye and exploded. Kye was protected from the worst of the attack thanks to her rainbow aura, but much of it still broke through and burned her. Most of her battle kimono was burned away with only a few shreds left intact. Kye discarded the remains, but even the bodysuit she wears under the battle kimono was burned in a few places, the most notable being a large hole in the backside.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it," Toshiro said. He glanced over to the real Kye, who was emotionlessly watching the battle. "I haven't known you very long, but this is the first time I've seen you take a hit."

As the battle continued, Kye tossed her sword to her left hand. She held the sword out and hovered her right hand over it, seemingly pulling energy out of it.

"If you're doing that, then you're going to take a beating first!" Maeve shouted as she charged toward Kye.

Kye ignored her and continued preparing her technique, imbuing the energy she collected from her sword with True Zen. Maeve cleared the distance between them quickly and landed a nasty cut across Kye's front extending from just below her neck, between her breasts, down to her waist. Maeve then dismissed her blade and resorted to unarmed assault, all while Kye continued to prepare her technique. Despite her efforts of pounding Kye with her fists, leaving much of her front side bruised, Maeve couldn't stop Kye from finishing her technique.

"**Light Nova.**"

As Kye released her technique, Maeve released another chaotic orb at point blank range. Kye's attack carried Maeve off into the distance, where it exploded brilliantly while Maeve's attack detonated the instant she was blown away.

Maeve's attack had shrapnel in it that time, leaving Kye burned in several more places, as well as leaving cuts all over her body. Again, she was protected from the brunt of the attack with her rainbow aura, which even disintegrated some of the shrapnel, but she still came out of it with some nasty damage. Her True Zen magic was able to heal her some, but the lingering chaotic energy prevented it from taking much more effect. Most of Kye's battle suit was burned up, only the part protecting her lower modesty remaining.

Kye's attack left Maeve in bad shape, too. She managed to teleport back to the battleground, though a short distance away from Kye. Most of Maeve's clothing was shredded by Kye's attack. Her shirt and shoes were destroyed. All that was left was her pants, which were reduced to shorts, and some of the bandages that were wrapped around her breasts.

Toshiro looked toward the real Kye and said, "I thought the Light Nova was a Light Magic spell that you, Rei, and Kamiko used."

"Yes. However, the real Light Nova is one of the Seven Primordial Techniques. The Light Magic version is based off that. The real Light Nova can use Light Energy, Zen Energy, or True Zen, but it always requires an imprint of the target," the real Kye explained before buckling over in pain. As she recovered, she continued, "This was the real Light Nova performed at mortal level. At godly levels, such as what I was at as the Goddess of Light or as what my godly mother Queen Xera is at, that technique will blow the target off the planet and into space at a speed several times greater than the speed of light. I don't know what it is capable of at Elder God level." She buckled over in pain again.

"I see."

Both combatants were in bad shape. Maeve slowly walked toward Kye, but she fell forward as soon as she summoned her sword. Maeve caught herself with her sword, using it as a prop. Kye dropped to her knees.

"I can't continue without lifting the limit I placed on my power for this battle," Maeve said. "It looks like you can't continue either."

Kye looked up at her and quickly muttered a word, "No," while accepting the short spike of pain that came with the word.

"We'll call this a draw then." Maeve glowed in an intense aura of colorless energy for a moment, her body healing and her clothing reforming. "I'm not allowed to do the same for you, but I can send you back to your base."

"Yes," Kye said, accepting another pain spike.

"Epic battle," Maeve commented with a smile. "I enjoyed it. I hope we can have another spar sometime after the conflict between you and my Lord Mavet is over. Goodbye, Milady."

Maeve laid her palm on Kye's hand for a moment and sent the injured blonde away. Maeve teleported away soon after.

Toshiro turned back to Kye, "So this is why you returned injured last night. But, that was a full day after you disappeared." Toshiro experienced a slight spike of pain as he began to talk too quickly.

"I didn't show you the part where I trained. I trained the rest of that night and the entire following day before the match took place," Kye replied before she buckled over in pain. "We'll return to the mission now that you have your blessing. I'll fix your bomb's timer so you can set it off. Set it for five seconds, and I'll teleport us out." She took another intense pain spike from speaking, but recovered quickly.

"I guess it's good we only feel pain instead of it actually doing damage to us, though the pain is a lot worse than getting cut by a sword," Toshiro commented, this time purposely speaking too quick to test his speech limit before the slight pain spike became an intense pain spike.

Kye stood back up and held her outstretched right index and middle fingers a few inches in front of Toshiro's head. He nodded at her and she touched his hand. Their vision blurred to white again. The next thing they saw was a colorless Neuroi core chamber. Before Toshiro could comment, the world regained its color, signifying that the time freeze ended.

Kye walked over to the bomb, pulled the timer out, used her True Zen magic to fix it, and handed it to Toshiro. Toshiro set the timer, returned it to the capsule, and activated it. Kye teleported the two away, them reappearing in the group floating high in the sky.

The bomb went off and completely incinerated the base and vaporized a large portion of the surrounding sea that was within range. As was predicted by Yami, the blast radius didn't reach its full effect due to the Neuroi base and the water absorbing much of its force, but the fireball did reach just over one kilometer above sea level.

"Bada boom," Kaylie commented.

"Bada _big_ boom," Layla added.

Toshiro snickered.

As the fireball faded, only the Neuroi commander was left in the enormous hole in the ground, floating up with a powerful energy barrier protecting her body, which was completely unharmed.

"I can't say I'm surprised that didn't kill the commander," Yami said.

"That was rather underhanded," the commander said as she reached the altitude where everyone was floating. "You completely destroyed my base with minimal effort. My Guardian Turtle didn't even get a chance to come out and play. Who is to blame for this?"

"That would be me," Toshiro said.

"Then you shall be the first I fight. I am High Commander Maris." She generated a longsword in her right hand. "Come at me."


	30. Chapter 30: Victis Honor

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 30: Victis Honor **

**Chapter Quote: "Honor to the Vanquished"**

* * *

**-April 26th, 1953-**

"Then you shall be the first I fight. I am High Commander Maris." Maris generated a longsword in her right hand. "Come at me."

In a split second, Oblivion Lost appeared in Toshiro's hand and he triggered both the Awakened State and the Celestial Aura simultaneously.

"**Caelestis Telum,**" he said quietly. Oblivion Lost glowed with the same celestial power as his aura.

"The power of Celestial Order," Maris said. "Impressive."

Toshiro didn't respond to her with words. He quickly charged up to her and brought down a powerful attack on her, one resembling Mio's Reppu Zoukyou and Sanya's Vernichtung, however with an intense flare of celestial power.

Maris blocked Toshiro's powerful attack with her blade, but was flung downward into sea with an enormous splash that easily reached half a kilometer high.

"Whoa..." several mumbled at once.

Maris recovered once she was thrown underwater and launched an enormous energy beam upward at Toshiro. He smirked and took the blast head on. Maris used that as a distraction, however, and teleported up to Toshiro. She managed to land a light cut on Toshiro's right cheek, which would have been much worse had he not attempted to dodge or had he not had the Celestial Aura protecting him. However, his cut did not bleed due to his celestial powers restoring his blood vessels instantly, and the remaining tissue soon after.

Seeing Toshiro get cut, Yoshika instantly activated her own Awakened State and her True Zen Aura, and instinctively used her True Zen power to teleport into the fray. She kicked Maris square in the chest and knocked her back.

"Well done," Maris complemented. "I didn't see that one coming, Champion."

"There's a lot more coming with that, too," Yoshika growled as she transformed Gaia into a longbow and pulled back the string. "I've never shot a Sacred Arrow from Gaia. Even I don't know how much power it has when shot from a Legendary."

Toshiro smirked at Yoshika's threat.

"First, you destroy my base with a bomb, now you face me two on one. How cowardly can you get?!" Maris thundered. "If that's how you want to play, then so be it." Maris dropped her Neurified longsword, which disintegrated as it left her hand, and summoned a solid black longsword. "**Awaken.**"

"What?!" Toshiro and Yoshika gasped in unison.

Maris's body was soon engulfed with a translucent black aura. "The Blade of Destruction, Ruin. Let the real battle begin."

* * *

Maris held her blade toward Toshiro and Yoshika and launched a powerful black beam of energy at them. Yoshika raised a shield empowered with True Zen, but Maris's beam was so powerful that it pushed Yoshika and her shield back toward the group. Everyone scattered.

Yoshika fought against the beam until Toshiro attacked Maris to break her concentration. He launched a powerful Reppuzan-esque attack of celestial magic from his blade. Maris dodged, but couldn't maintain her beam.

Taking advantage of the brief opportunity, Yoshika pulled her bow up and prepared her attack. "**Sacred Arrow!**" She launched the super powered rainbow arrow at Maris. The arrow traveled at such a speed that Maris couldn't dodge. It hit Maris and exploded with a brilliant, bright rainbow flare.

Using Oblivion Lost as a catalyst, Toshiro followed up with a new technique that just popped into his head based on an existing Karlslander technique. "**Himmlischer Zauberstrahl.**" He launched a beam of black magic that glowed white and had what looked like stars littered inside it.

"**Sphere of Ruin!**" Maris shouted before Toshiro's attack could land. A strong blast of black energy exploded outward in all directions from inside the rainbow flare.

"**Celestial Reppuzan!**" Toshiro countered with a Celestial Magic empowered Reppuzan.

"**True Zen Reppuzan!**" Yoshika followed him with a True Zen empowered Reppuzan.

Their attacks hit the growing sphere of black energy simultaneously and tore into it. Within seconds, the black sphere dissipated and Maris was left floating where the center had been. Her left arm was missing, as was her left leg and a portion of her left torso. Her core was exposed, but the damage was quickly regenerated.

"If those two Reppuzan attacks had hit me, I'd be in trouble right now," Maris said. "Champion, that Sacred Arrow attack is something to be proud of."

"Our Reppuzans missed?" Yoshika asked.

"I managed to deflect them just enough to send them by on either side of me, by no less than a foot's margin of error." Maris looked toward Toshiro. "Your power is nothing to joke about either. I barely managed to block your Celestial Magic imbued beam attack, and I had to use the Sphere of Ruin to do so."

"Are we gonna talk or fight?" Toshiro mocked.

"Have it your way, Champion. I have no qualms with hastening your demise." Maris disappeared, teleporting up to Toshiro with her blade in midswing aimed at Toshiro neck. She was too quick for Toshiro to react without time dilution, but he couldn't make use of that while maintaining mastery control of his Celestial Order power.

He strengthened the area of his aura surrounding his neck, head, and upper torso by making good use of Celestial Order, using his command over order to vastly strengthen his defenses, as well as his skin.

His efforts were not required, however, as Yoshika managed to react in time and had teleported the moment Maris vanished. Yoshika had Gaia already transformed into her sword form and blocked Maris's attack. Toshiro instantly diverted his efforts of strengthening his defenses to strengthening Gaia.

Yoshika was able to completely block Maris and Toshiro was able to counter attack with a powerful unarmed blow from his left fist.

"**Himmlischer Trümmerschlag!**" Toshiro hit Maris with a Celestial Magic empowered version of Trude's recently developed Großer Trümmerschlag technique. His blow knocked Maris back several hundred meters.

"Hey! Who said you could improve my technique?!" Trude shouted at him. "I can't even do that version of it! Not fair, Toshiro!"

Toshiro smiled at Trude's response.

**_ "Livy, hand to hand mode!"_**

**_ "Yes, Master."_**

Oblivion Lost disappeared, replaced by two rings, one on either of Toshiro's biceps. He formed an orb of Celestial Magic in his hands that was identical to the appearance of a galaxy. Yoshika followed suit with her own orb of rainbow magic. Each threw their attacks, which homed in on Maris, even after she teleported. They landed a direct hit, exploding with a mix of rainbow and celestial magics.

As soon as it was clear enough to see through, Toshiro charged in at Maris, and upon reaching melee range, he began his assault. "**Dou! Tetsu! Hagane! Chitan! Sekiei! Ogyoku! Kougyoku! Kongouseki!**" With his final attack, Toshiro shattered Maris's core.

"You've gained my respect, Champion," Maris said as she extended her hand. She spoke only loud enough for Toshiro to hear. "If we were not forced upon opposite sides, I would have been honored to fight alongside you."

Knowing exactly what she meant, Toshiro accepted Maris's gesture. "I will find a way to end this with both of our worlds intact."

"Thank you," Maris said with a sincere tone. "You have great honor within you, Champion. Please accept this warning. Lord Mavet has a Champion of his own. You will likely fight her in the final battle. She wields the power of Celestial Chaos and has complete mastery of it through old fashioned training. Her name is Maia, and her partner is Makai, also known as the Legendary Cataclysm, the Song of Chaos. I wish you good luck, Champion." She shattered into white fragments. As she did, the barrier surrounding the center of the continent shattered as if it were glass breaking.

Toshiro turned toward the enormous Commanding Hive toward the center of the continent. "A Champion of Celestial Chaos. Well, no matter. MAVET, YOU'RE NEXT!"

* * *

With the battle over, everyone returned to base. After watching the footage, the commanders of the various groups had questions. Toshiro called over the PA for everyone to gather in the gym an hour after the mission goers returned.

When everyone gathered, they didn't expect the Goddess Kye to make an appearance. "To give our warriors a bit of a break, I'll explain. Our current strongest, Kye Miyafuji and Toshiro Edelweiss, have received a special blessing from the Primordial Goddess. This blessing grants them full control of their power, True Zen mastery for my mortal counterpart and Celestial Order mastery for Toshiro.

"This blessing gives them a boost in power, but the important part is that they can use their abilities to their fullest. It would be wrong to even classify them as a witch and wizard as they are, given that their familiars cannot help them now.

"This blessing comes with a very potent benefit, but it has a price. For gaining mastery of their powers via the Primordial Goddess's blessing instead of doing so the natural way, they must expend a great deal of their attention _at all times_ to keep their power in check.

"If they had mastered their power the natural way, it would be second nature to them and there would be no downside, but they have not had enough time yet to commit to such training. Yoshika has had over a year now to commit to such training and even she still needs more time."

The Goddess turned toward her mortal self and Toshiro before continuing. "To put it clear for both of you, anything that diverts your attention from controlling your power will have a detrimental effect. Conversing diverts your attention, be it spoken, mental, or telepathic. Emotions divert your attention. Any brain activity that is focused on something else is taking away from what is dedicated to keeping your power in check.

"Toshiro isn't as limited as mortal me, of course, so he doesn't have to be a saint about it, but he'll feel the pain with too much gain, so to speak. Mortal me, however, has to dedicate nearly one hundred percent of her attention to keeping her power in check. She can fight and strategize in combat just fine, but that's pretty much it. Beyond that and survival instincts, she has to devote all of her attention to her power."

Mortal Kye pulled Yami out to the front of the group. "While I am _indisposed_ of properly carrying on my duties as Supreme Commander, Yami will be my stand in. You will follow her orders as if they were mine." As she stopped speaking she grimaced and fell to her knees from the intense pain spike.

"The pain they experience deals no damage to their bodies," Goddess Kye added. "This pain is caused from a direct stimulation of the pain receptors throughout their bodies, all simultaneously. At full strength, the pain they receive is the worst possible for a human body."

Yami nodded at Mortal Kye. "I'll handle it."

"With all of that being said, this explanation is complete," Goddess Kye said before vanishing.

* * *

Toshiro returned to his room immediately, and slumped down on the bed.

_"Ugh, Yuki... good to know I can still talk to you, though I can't pay attention to any vocal conversations at the same time..."_

_ "Well hello there, Prodigal Son! Suddenly you find _use_ of me?"_

_ "Oh come on, Yuki... You know how I work, right?"_

_ "Yeah, yeah. I am a bit of an unsolicited burden, right?"_

_ "I hope it didn't take you over two years to realize that, right?"_

_ "Ah, mentally you're still as sharp and witty as usual! Does it hurt by the way?"_

_ "Just a bit... But at least I _can_ utter a complete sentence without my head exploding."_

_ "Shame about Kye, I like her. I mean the mortal one, just to clarify shit."_

_ "I like the mortal Kye too. Ugh, I hope I can get some lazy R&amp;R right now..."_

_ "Well scratch that off, cuz I do sense somebody that will immediately destroy your moment of brief serenity."_

_ "Ugh, who the f..."_

A knock on the door sounded out in the room, and Toshiro said, "Come in."

Yoshika peered inside the room, and immediately she said, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"No." Toshiro ruffled his eyebrows, but then he looked as if a trademark Edison light bulb lit over his head, which he actually did procure using his celestial magic.

"Oh, clever you are!" Yoshika laughed. "What did you ponder up, Toshiro?"

"I'll just talk slowly. Veeeeery slowly. Like you're supposed to talk to retarded children."

"Heehee." She smiled. "Are you sure you need to slow down that much? The other Kye did say you aren't as bad off."

"I'd rather not risk the pain. It's fucking awful when it hits."

"I see," she said. "Can I have a seat?"

"Wherever you like. Whenever you like."

Yoshika sat down by his side, and surprisingly tucked herself under his right arm.

"Now, now..." Toshiro said warmly. "Don't get too lovey dovey with me, or it will hurt..."

"I hope you don't mean something... lewd?"

"Oh please..." He sighed. "It's just like Buddhist monk training. You flinch during meditation, you get a smack on the head."

"Ah, like that. I understand."

"Nevertheless, I'll take a leap and..." he said and a bouquet of orange blossoms appeared in his hands. "For you, Sweetie."

"Oh my..." She gasped. "Can you just go around and do _stuff_ right now?"

"I'm limited by my mortal body, so I can only do as much as mortal limitations allow me. I can't create antimatter or black holes. I think destroying planets is a bit out of my league too, but I still can do many things. Want a diamond tiara?"

"No, no, that would be like cheating. Many people are working to create such a masterpiece of jewelry, so-"

"You're so considerate..." Toshiro snickered, interrupting her.

"What _does_ your power actually do?" she asked curiously as she summoned balls of rainbow light that danced around her hand. "My True Zen is... well literally everything, but your power is a mystery to me."

"Creation, from ground up, and from nothing, but also destruction. It's basically the same as Layla's Creation and Destruction Magic at mortal levels, but the potential is much greater at Elder God level. Also low level reality rewriting applies. But that's only half of that."

"Half?" Yoshika asked. "What's the other half?"

"The main concept is order, thus the name Celestial Order. I already said that I have creation and destruction abilities with it, well those are Orderly Creation and Orderly Destruction. I can influence things and subject them with _order_ to make them more powerful. Let's say it's the year 1935. You take a piece of paper and want to rip it apart. Is that easy?"

"Well, even as a kid it would be easy."

"And how about a piece of pasteboard?"

"That would be more difficult."

Toshiro raised his hand up and generated a piece of paper.

"Try to rip this apart. Just don't use your silly rainbow powers or awaken Gaia, haha!" Toshiro laughed, masking the stings of pain from his emotion rising too much.

Yoshika took the piece of paper and tried to rip it apart with all her might, even biting it, but she could not.

"Okay explain this to me. That was like trying to rip a sheet of titanium!"

"That's the power of Celestial Order - strength through order," he said and took the piece of paper, ripping it apart easily. "At first, I made some alterations to the paper, but when I took it back I simply undid the alterations, which were organizing the atomic structure of the paper in such a way that its resilience was multiplied, up to the point that even such a powerful witch like you couldn't rip it apart by brute strength alone."

"This power of yours is surely helpful. I do hope you won't be using it in nefarious manners?"

"Yoshika, please... There are just too many Elder Gods fluttering around to stop me."

"Heehee... Anyway... That fight we just had was amazing. I really got to cut loose, and you didn't pull any punches either."

"Godly powers do mesh quite nicely in combat... Ugh, I wish I could get the Allgod to appear in his full glory..."

"Your Elder God is quite mysterious, Toshiro."

"Hmmmm..."

"Can't talk about it?"

"I can. Kye'o!"

Goddess Kye appeared in front of the two. "Well hello there, my newly empowered colleague. Since I can't for the love of myself read your mind right now, just tell me what you want."

"BAHAHAHAHAHA! Finally! Peace of mind!" He laughed heartily before receiving an intense pain spike. "FUCK!"

"Now I don't have to listen to your hairy thoughts, hehe."

"Well, anyway... I want you to make the following conversation eavesdrop proof and probe proof. I'm going to tell Yoshika about _that_."

"_That_ you say? I see..." she mused. She snapped her fingers. "Okay then, done. Have a good day you two." She disappeared.

"The Godly Kye seems to sort of like you, Toshiro."

"That's only returned sparsely... So, Yoshika, what I will tell you now is a secret of cosmic magnitude. You can tell NOBODY. The only mortal that knows about this is Kye, so you can talk to her about it if you like, but I don't think she'll be much of a conversation partner."

"If that's such a big secret, then you really have to trust me," she said wryly.

"If I can't trust the woman I love, the world might as well end. So, Yoshika, the truth is that..."

* * *

After Aya entered her room, she summoned Kari in her human form.

"What do you want of me, Mistress?" she asked kindly.

"I guess a conversation partner will do for now. I can't talk to Grandpa as much, since he's a bit indisposed, Grandma most likely is with him, and Kye... very indisposed."

"Okay."

Just before Aya could open her mouth again, her door was blown open, and two redheads pinned her down to the bed sheets.

"Woah, woah! I've only had sex with a man; I'm not into lesbian threesomes yet!" Aya shouted, terrified.

""Yet," she says. Ha, she really is an Edelweiss!" Kaylie cheered.

"No doubt about that!" Layla followed. "We came to play!"

"I hope it's not foreplay!"

"Nah!" Kaylie said. "Play play. Come on! We have to use up our free time somehow!"

"But I wanted to talk with Kari..."

"You'll be with Kari for the rest of your life. We'll be available to your disposal only for a few more days at most!" Layla reasoned. "Come on. Or we'll make your fear come true, hehe..."

"Ugh, okay, I'm going..." Aya sighed.

"Cool!" they cheered in unison.

"Oh, let's get Toshiro!" Kaylie said.

"But-" Aya tried to protest, but she was snatched away by the two from her bed.

"They'll never change..." Kari sighed and disappeared.

* * *

Yoshika was walking slowly down the corridor alongside Toshiro, cuddling up his arm.

"It's amazing that you're so calm about what you've learned."

"If you're destined to do or be somebody, then it's curtains." He paused. "And I'm in turn amazed that you also were amazingly calm after I told you all about it."

"Two wars and an Elder Goddess meddling around my life..." Yoshika shrugged. "You could say I'm used to things."

"Right... Ah shit, and here comes a rabid cavalcade."

Toshiro looked at the corner, and from behind it jumped Kaylie and Layla, dragging Aya so fast that she didn't touch the ground with her feet. He waited a few seconds, and not lifting a single finger, he erected two small stone walls out of thin air so the two redheads smacked straight into them, and Aya flew towards Toshiro's open arms.

"Toshiro, that was dangerous..." Yoshika scolded.

"Three healers around, nothing to give a fuck about."

"Whew, Grandpa thanks for saving me..." Aya chimed in.

"Always there for my family."

"Ugh, that smarts..." Kaylie said as she stood up. "Yo, Toshiro, how the hell did you fling a wall into my face, and how the hell did you do it so that I didn't notice it?!"

"I created a temporal rift around you just before the wall suddenly found its way to your face. And as for how I did it, well... I told ya all about it on the way back from the mission. You should've listened."

"Yeah yeah... Shoulda..." Kaylie mumbled.

"Woulda..." Layla continued.

"Didn't," Toshiro cut them off. "So, what did you two want from Aya?"

"Oh, nothing up your alley, Mister," Kaylie said. "And we actually ran to you so you could join us."

"We didn't have anything specific in mind," Layla continued. "Just random tomfoolery to kill time."

"Random tomfoolery... Ah, whatever. Yoshika?"

"I can go with you all, no problem." She smiled.


	31. Chapter 31: Calm Before (Part 1)

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 31: Calm Before (Part 1)**

* * *

**-April 27th, 1953-**

Following a day of fun and folly, Toshiro, Yoshika, Aya, Kaylie, and Layla ended up sleeping in late. They probably would have slept even longer had a certain trio of witches not found them sleeping in the common room.

Toshiro was sleeping soundly on a couch. Yoshika and Aya were sleeping in a chair, and the redhead twins were sleeping leaning against each other on the other couch.

Kye, Yami, and Minna were returning from breakfast and found the common room door closed. Curious, Yami opened it and found the five inside. She traded glances with Kye and Minna.

"What do you think?" Yami glanced to Kye, who made no apparent reaction.

"I think they've slept long enough," Minna replied. "And I have an idea of how to wake them up."

"Oh?" Yami shot her a wry grin, a gesture Minna returned.

"Kye can you use your super magic to soundproof the common room?" Minna asked.

Kye generated an orb of True Zen magic that quickly caused the walls, floor, and ceiling to glow in a dim rainbow color.

Minna then closed the door quietly and found the nearest PA panel. "This is General Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke. The following siren will be a drill. Please clear the pathway from the common room to the hangar and remain out of sight. That is all."

Minna waited thirty seconds before gesturing at Kye to release the soundproofing on the common room. She then activated the air raid siren, and the three quickly hid in a nearby closet.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Toshiro shouted loud enough for them to hear. "GODS DAMN IT THE PAIN!"

Toshiro's yells were soon followed by the sound of five people tromping through the hallway on their way to the hangar. As soon as they were clear, Minna, Yami, and Kye left the closest and watched through the window as the five took to the air.

"This is Yoshika Miyafuji, ready to defend the base."

"Likewise, this is Toshiro Edelweiss."

"And Layla Maya."

"And Kaylie Maya."

"And Aya Edelweiss."

"Where is the threat?" Toshiro asked.

Yami and Minna burst out laughing after making sure their comms were turned off. Without missing a beat, Kye used her True Zen to generate an illusion showing several hundred Neuroi flying down toward the base.

Each of the five launched their attacks, but nothing happened.

Confused at first, Yoshika used her own True Zen and figured out that the Neuroi were illusions generated by Kye's True Zen.

"Return to base," Yoshika said. "This was all a prank."

"A prank?" Layla asked.

"Damn, they got us good," Kaylie added.

After returning to the hangar and changing back into their normal clothes, the five were confronted by Kye, Yami, and Minna. As usual, Kye acted as if she was paying them no attention. However, Yami and Minna had their angry faces ready.

"What the hell was that about?" Kaylie asked demandingly. "That was completely uncalled for. Kaylie and I prank each other all the time, but we never cross the prank-while-sleeping line!"

"If you five had got up when you were supposed to, it wouldn't have happened," Yami said matter-of-factly.

"In response to that, I'm assigning all of you to kitchen duty, except Yoshika," Minna added. "Since Yoshika commonly does kitchen work anyway, she will be given bathroom duty. Your punishments will start today at noon and end at noon three days from now."

"But we only slept in for two hours!" Kaylie argued.

"Want to make it four days?" Yami shot back. "Or should I go fetch Elizabeth and get it over with all at once?"

Kaylie ran off without responding, followed closely by Layla.

"That's what I thought."

Toshiro just sighed and said, "Whatever." Aya and Yoshika nodded and left with Toshiro.

Yami and Minna traded glances again and laughed together.

"Me might have gone a little easy on them," Yami said.

"Yeah, but we _are_ about approaching the final stretch of the war," Minna replied. "Besides, Toshiro will find a way to make kitchen duty fun for them, and I didn't forbid Yoshika from using her True Zen in bathroom duty."

"Yeah, true enough. Anyway, we have a recon mission to do, so let's go hunt up Mio, Sanya, and Shadow."

Kye generated a holographic map of the base which showed the locations of the three in question.

"Well that's handy," Yami said. "Big Sister, your power literally never ceases to be useful."

* * *

Yami, Minna, and Kye found Mio, Sanya, and Shadow quickly. After changing into their SFS units, the group took off on their reconnaissance mission. They climbed to a high altitude and flew directly toward the center of the continent.

Not long into their flight, they found a floating Neuroi fortress surrounded by a spherical barrier. On either side was a beam of energy connecting it to two other floating fortresses.

"This is new," Yami said. She glanced at the others. "Any ideas?"

"No, and I can't sense anything inside it," Minna replied.

"I can't either," Sanya added.

Mio tried to peak through with her Magic Eye, but couldn't see anything. "My eye can't penetrate it."

"It's probably a type of disruption field, judging by the fact that none of you can sense anything inside," Shadow coined.

"I bet you're right," Yami said. "Let's fly higher. Sixty thousand meters should do it."

"Roger," the others responded, Kye excluded.

They flew high enough to see over the hive and saw that there was a series of ten fortresses surrounding it, each with a barrier and each connected to its neighbor through an energy beam.

"Can any of you sense or see any Neuroi?"

Minna, Mio, and Sanya used their magic again, but to no avail. Each shook their heads.

"It's definitely a disruption barrier," Shadow said. She looked to Kye. "Princess, we need your eyes."

"Eyes?" Minna, Mio, and Sanya asked.

"Her Seinarugan eyes," Yami said.

"**Seinarugan!**" Kye said as twin seven pointed rainbow stars appeared on her eyes.

"No pain?" Mio asked.

"She can say that name, technique names, and spells since she's using her power for them," Yami said.

"Ah, makes sense."

Kye looked down toward the barriers and the hive. She could see through the barriers of each fort, but not through the forts themselves. However, that's not what bothered her. She saw an enormous spherical barrier covering the hive and several colossal sized Neuroi floating in circles around the hive inside the barrier.

"What do you see?" Yami asked as Kye deactivated her Seinarugan. Kye responded by generating a panel of rainbow energy in front of them. The panel was large enough that it appeared as though they were looking at the hive and the forts through a glass. It showed everything that Kye saw.

"What do you think?" Minna asked.

"We can see through the forts' barriers, but not the forts," Yami analyzed. "There's nothing on the outside to suggest they are any different from the other forts, aside the obvious."

"That looks like a problem," Mio said, pointing out an additional barrier.

"Yeah. It looks like there's another giant spherical barrier around the hive. It's concealing everything inside. There are several colossal sized Neuroi floating around in there, too."

"I see ten already, and I don't even want to keep counting," Mio said with a sigh.

"We've killed somewhere in the ballpark of one hundred and twenty thousand Neuroi in the war so far. Our original estimates were around one-thirty. I'd be willing to bet that the original box shaped barrier that the bases and hives generated allowed us to sense only a certain distance inside. We need to go inside this one and find out how many more Neuroi there are. Shadow?"

"Of course, Princess," she said as she formed a barrier of Shadow Magic. "I can get us in undetected."

The six descended directly into the invisible barrier. Both Sanya and Minna activated their Magic Auras to increase their effectiveness. They held hands as they started counting.

"I'm counting over sixty thousand," Minna said.

"Confirmed," Sanya added. "And none are below Class Seven."

"As I thought. There are more inside than we originally thought." Yami took a deep breath and put forth some thought. After roughly one minute she continued, "I have a preliminary idea on what to do. I'll work on the plan as we return to base and call a meeting after lunch. We're going to need every fighter we have to pull this off."

"Return to base then?" Minna asked.

"Yeah, let's go," Yami said.

* * *

Roughly an hour before lunchtime, the four assigned to kitchen duty gathered and discussed what to prepare. Kaylie and Layla were indifferent, and Aya only narrowed it down to a Fuso dish. Toshiro decided on ramen.

"Aya, since you're my granddaughter do you know any of my or Yoshika's ramen recipes?" Toshiro asked.

Aya nodded and said, "Several. You taught me a pork ramen recipe together, and I think that's the best one."

"Then that we shall make. Uh..." He scratched his head.

"I think Grandma said you made this one after the war, so you might not know it yet."

"Yeah, how did we do it?"

Aya began her explanation, which lasted only two minutes. She gave assignments to Kaylie, Layla, and Toshiro, and the four started.

Halfway through, Yoshika busted in through the doors. "I want to help!"

"But you're supposed to be doing the bathrooms," Toshiro said. "Or did you..."

"Hehe, I cheated!" she cheered. "They didn't say I couldn't use my magic!"

"How long did it take?"

"About two seconds per bathroom, and I teleported around to each one, so it only took a few minutes in total. So what needs done?"

"Well..." Aya mumbled before explaining the recipe to her.

"Oh! I know that one!" Yoshika ran over to the spice cabinet and pulled out an unlabeled spice jar. "This will make it better!"

"What is it?"

"A special spice that Yami and I made together."

"Any more specific?"

"Well, I originally had my own special ingredient, and Yami had her own special spice, then one day we worked together and made this. That's all I'll say about it. It's a secret that I haven't even told my mother."

"Well, okay. I trust you, Grandma."

Yoshika's cheerful face instantly changed to gloomy.

Aya quickly realized what she did and apologized, "Gomenasai! (I'm sorry!)"

_ "Heh, look at that, Yuki."_

_ "They get along well, don't they?"_

As their dish neared completion, including with Yoshika's special spice, a thought popped into Toshiro's head.

"So I see a problem," he said plainly.

"What's that, Grandpa?" Aya asked.

"Heh..." Layla mumbled.

"Looks like one figured it out.

"Yeah..." Kaylie mumbled.

"Two."

"What's wrong?" Yoshika asked. Then it dawned on both her and Aya.

"So we made a huge pot, but..."

"Exactly," Toshiro said. "We're supposed to feed around one hundred people. I don't think this is enough."

"We don't have time to make more!" Yoshika said.

"Welp, there's one way to fix this..." Toshiro powered up his celestial magic, but Layla waved him off.

"I know you just started using that full time and that you have complete mastery, but I'm still not comfortable with letting you make our food with it."

He looked at her with a disgruntled expression.

"Please?"

He sighed and gave in.

"Okay, here goes..." Layla spun her arm as if winding up for a pitch in baseball. "Aaaaaaaand..." She threw the imaginary baseball and generated fifteen more pots of ramen from the first. "They are identical to the first."

"I see another problem," Toshiro said. "These are giant ass pots..."

"Yeah, I did kinda clog up all of the counter space in here, and considering the size of this kitchen... heh."

"That's not what I meant. This many pots will feed a friggin' army."

"Oh. Heh. Overboard much, huh? Leftovers?"

Kaylie sighed and just teleported a few of the pots to the buffet line. "I'm just gonna freeze the rest in a time pocket so they don't get cold. If this stuff is as good as it smells, then we can have some later, too."

"I guess I'll go tell everyone it's ready," Toshiro said.

"Before you go," Kaylie said. "Why did you let us get caught? I know Yuki could have woke you up - and then you us - before Mom, Aunt Yami, and Minna found us."

"Yeah..." Toshiro just shrugged. "Maybe I wanted to cook with you four?"

"You coulda just asked."

"You coulda said no."

"I probably would have, too. Touché."

"I might have given them a little hint yesterday, too."

"You even planned it ahead of time? You are diabolical."

"Did you have fun?"

"Maybe..."

"Good enough for me." Toshiro gave them a smile.

While Aya and the redheads began with the preparations to serve the food, Yoshika approached him inconspicuously and quietly asked, "Hey, what about that one pot in the middle, the one marked with magic I could only sense with my own True Zen? The amount of capsaicin in that ramen could probably propel a rocket. Planning some prank?"

"That's a _very_ special ramen for Minna and whichever poor sap that eats with her." He smirked devilishly. "I _altered_ it after Layla spawned the rest of the pots."

"At least you didn't add a laxative." She giggled. "But I do hope you can take it yourself if it comes to that, right?"

"Don't dish out what you can't take." He winked.

"Good."

"Oh, and that condiment of yours sure has a complicated recipe," he added with a roguish smile.

Yoshika puffed her cheeks and started poking him in the stomach repeatedly, to which Toshiro reacted with the same.

"Stop poking each other, you two lovebirds, because the hungry rabble will be upon us soon." Kaylie muttered. She smirked and added, "For it's past noon!" Nobody reacted to her rhyme.

"You don't know how I can _poke_ a woman," Toshiro said with a smirk.

"We do," the redheads said in sync with straight faces.

"Right..." He sighed and quietly added, "I suppose I can tell my Yoshika?"

"The spice recipe? Well..." Yoshika mumbled. "I don't mind, but you'll have to ask Yami, too."

"Guess I better make sure she doesn't get my prank ramen," he said before going to the PA panel in the cafeteria. He put on a lighter voice, thanks in part to Yuki, and said, "This is your friendly neighborhood Toshiro reporting that several mouthwatering pots of pork ramen have been prepared and are awaiting your consumption."

He turned around to four girls giggling at his voice. He smirked in victory.

* * *

"Minna, you are the biggest trooper I've ever seen," Yami said as the two entered the war room.

"I will admit going for seconds may come back to bite me," Minna replied as she took a drink of milk from the glass she was carrying. "However, it was quite good."

By the time the two arrived, all the other commanders had already gathered in the war room.

Yami put on her serious face and began explaining her strategy. Using the holographic generator built into the table in the center of the room, Yami quickly drew up a mock of the hive and the ten forts surrounding it. She explained about the individual barriers surrounding the forts and the large barrier surrounding the hive, as well as the large number of colossal sized Neuroi circling the hive.

"So basically, we have our work cut out for us," Mio commented.

"Something to that effect," Yami said. "So my plan is to send a team, one each, to the forts and destroy them. Judging by how it was set up, these forts are likely generating the barrier surrounding the hive. Destroy them and no more barrier. After that will be pretty much the largest scale battle in the history of war."

"So blow up the forts then blow up every Neuroi in sight?" Toshiro said. "That's straightforward enough."

"Except it's not that simple. We are going up against over sixty thousand Neuroi with a minimum ranking of Class Seven. All of our fighters are at least Class Nine now, many are Class Ten, and a handful of us are beyond that even, but that doesn't give us any reason to hold back."

"And don't forget that the big bad guy will be there as well," Toshiro said. "Mavet is an Elder God. I know now that he's not allowed to participate as such, but even on mortal terms he'll still be the strongest opponent in the war."

"And we can't forget about Eila's vision," Minna added. "She saw you, Kye, Yoshika, and Aya fighting a person, not a Neuroi."

"I don't know what to think of that, but the person was definitely Mavet. Maybe he'll fight us in a human form instead of a Neuroi form, I don't know."

"The biggest thing for this strategy is to be prepared for anything," Yami said. "This _is_ the final battle. We'll be taking everyone. Moving on to the actual strategy, there are ten forts. Since we have several solid groups, I've already planned out who I want to go and wrote them down. Each group will comprised of three people."

Yami took a folded up sheet of paper from inside her battle kimono, unfolded it, and placed it on the table. The holographic generator scanned and displayed it for everyone to see.

**Fort Assault Teams**  
Team 1 - Yoshika, Mio, Yusu  
Team 2 - Aya, Rei, Kamiko  
Team 3 - Minna, Gertrude, Erica  
Team 4 - Perrine, Louise, Yuko  
Team 5 - Ayaka K., Yoshiko N., Katsu K.  
Team 7 - Xale, Xan, Xael  
Team 8 - Xiani, Xelen, Xilana  
Team 9 - Bell, Valterri, Lion  
Team 10 - Yami, Lily, Shadow

**Backup Teams**  
Team A - Ren, Aira, Aero  
Team B - Zen, Kenji, Hiro

"Every person on this list has either Divine Power or can use the Awakened State with their Legendary Weapon," Yami continued. "There are two backup teams in case any of the first ten need assistance. Of course, calls on the battlefield will be made if more assistance is needed."

"Why am I not on the list?" Toshiro asked.

"I want you overlooking this stage of the operation," she answered. "As well as these teams and backup teams, most of our remaining forces will be assigned certain points. Six groups in total, those being the Karlsland Contingent and the remaining forces of each the Fuso Contingent, 516th, and each sector of the 511th. One moment and I'll add the point assignments for each group to the hologram, as well as which teams will go to which forts."

Yami took a moment to edit her holographic mockup before continuing.

"Once the first stage of the operation is complete, that being taking down the forts, we move on to the next stage. At this point, everyone will return to their respective groups and follow the orders of their respective commanders. As with any hive, we will work to get an infiltration team inside the hive. Since this is the final battle, I'm sending in some of our strongest for the infiltration - a group of four being Yoshika, Kye, Toshiro, and Aya. You know what to do. After that, we'll have to wing it. It's likely that once we destroy the hive core, we'll be facing Mavet."

"In our last battle, High Commander Maris warned me of another," Toshiro added. "She warned me of Mavet's Champion, and she has complete mastery of Celestial Chaos. I'm expecting we'll see her tomorrow as well, and I'm sure she'll be strong. I'll fight her."

"Alright. So to recap, we will take out the ten forts, fight a hellacious battle, infiltrate the hive, destroy it, and whatever comes after that. Everyone make sure to discuss the strategy with your groups. I will call the assault teams out and relay their assignments to them myself. I will also call a formal briefing in the gym tomorrow to cover all grounds of the operation to make sure everyone understands thoroughly. Any questions?"

Only Toshiro spoke up, "What is your bra size?"

With a straight face, Yami answered, "9001ZZ."

"Touché."

"And with that, this meeting is adjourned. Dismissed!"

* * *

The rest of the day passed by quickly for the assault teams. Yami had them run tactical training exercises to get them ready for the big battle. Everyone else just did standard training until the next meal, which was spaghetti, courtesy of Kaylie and Layla.

After eating, Yami and Minna told the cooks that they were off the hook for kitchen duty, and that a certain pair were going to be preparing breakfast and lunch the next day.

Everyone went their separate ways after that. Most retreated to their rooms to relax and rest up while others relaxed in the common room, and a few relaxed in the bath.

Toshiro ended up in his room after his bath, which he waited fairly late to take so he could have a bit of alone time with Livy.

She accompanied him back to his room, where they spent the rest of the late evening together.

"Doomsday is upon us," Toshiro said with melancholy in his voice. "What do you think, Livy?"

"I think my anger is becoming more difficult to control," she answered bluntly. "It has taken all of my patience to refrain from using my elder god powers and wiping this war from existence."

"I'd be lying if I said you didn't surprise me just now. But you know Mavet is stronger. If you did that..."

"I'm not so sure that it would be that bad of a choice. I honestly think Lady Kye, while wielding Jouten and myself, could beat Mavet and Maeve. Lady Kye and Jouten may be weakened, but in their prime they are over twice as powerful as the rest of us, save Lord Phantom. Weakened or not, they aren't much lower than the rest of us. I'm not as weakened as they are either since I was never reborn or anything. I'm only a little weakened due to my Master the Allgod being in a weakened state. Together, the three of us could probably beat the two of them."

"Do you really think so?"

"I have faith. What about you?"

Toshiro took a deep breath and said, "I don't know. I'm trying to keep my mind on the objective, but I can't help but think about my Yoshika and our family and friends back home. The Primordial Goddess told me, with Kye and I having complete mastery of our powers, that we have a thirty five percent chance of winning. I don't like those odds, but if I can make it work, I will."

"And I will support you all the way."

"I have to ask," Toshiro said as he turned his eyes directly to Livy's. "If this is our last night, how do you want to spend it?"

"Sadly, I cannot return to my Master the Allgod's side. If you would have me, I would like to spend it with you."

"And I won't deny you," Toshiro said.

"And you?"

"Well. I had this little idea. You know that Yoshika kissed me yesterday while we were watching the sunset."

Livy nodded.

"That was the weirdest mixture of pleasure and pain... but thinking about that I have an idea. What about having sex? It would be something like that, but more extreme. I want to find out what that's like."

"Oh... well-"

"I don't know who to ask, though. Yoshika is out of the question. She knows it would hurt... a lot... and I don't want her to feel guilty, even if it is something like a last request. I thought about Xala again, but oh nelly... that was a little too intense the first time. I'd probably pass out from the pain if it was her. What about my female clone? You can poof her here, right?"

"I could..." she mumbled too low for him to hear.

"What was that?"

"I could..." she spoke up. "But..."

Toshiro could tell that Livy was somewhat reluctant. "Tell me."

"What about me?"

She took him by surprise. "Y-you?" He felt a slight pain spike, but he hid it completely. "But... damn it, we've gone over this..."

"You wanted to agree to disagree, and I went along with that..." Livy said. "But if this is our last night together, I want you to pick me!"

"Livy..."

"And if it isn't our last night together, I still want you to pick me!"

Toshiro saw the hopeful eyes of Livy staring directly in to his eyes. He gave in and smiled at her. "Okay."

Livy couldn't believe her ears. "R-really?"

Toshiro nodded and kissed her.

"Master!" Livy said after their kiss. "I've been naughty."

"Oh, hoho, you _think_ you've been naughty," he said wryly. "You just wait until after this. This is gonna hurt so good..."

* * *

Several hours into the night, after everyone had gone to sleep, Yoshika and Aya awoke. However, they didn't see their rooms when they opened their eyes, but they did see each other. They were in a dimly lit Fusojin style room.

"Aya?" Yoshika asked.

She nodded. "It's me. Am I dreaming?"

"I don't think so. This feels real... but where are we?"

"It looks like we're in a bedroom in a large Fuso house."

Suddenly, the walls and ceiling lifted from the floor and disintegrated, leaving a starry night sky overhead. Beyond the borders of the house was a simple yard that extended as far as the eye could see.

"Are you sure we're not dreaming?" Aya asked. "I'm pretty sure this can't happen in real life."

"It can happen if Kaylie and Layla are involved," Yoshika said. "But they never prank anyone that's sleeping."

**_"You can relax,"_** a soft female voice told both of them telepathically. **_"You are safe."_**

**_ "Who are you?"_** Yoshika and Aya responded in unison.

A cloaked woman appeared in front of them. She didn't reveal her face.

"You are in a dream," the woman said. "I have brought you here to offer something."

"Are you a god?" Yoshika asked.

"In a sense."

"Elder God?"

"Closer," the woman said. "I am the one you know as the Primordial Goddess."

Both Yoshika and Aya were instantly awestricken. Yoshika had stars in her eyes while Aya stuttered, "T-the P-Primordial..."

"Come now, both of you," she offered her hand to help the girls to their feet, a gesture either was reluctant to take. "You two are Elder God Champions." She simply waved her hand and levitated both of them to their feet. "You will stand while we talk."

Yoshika and Aya nodded.

"You know of the blessing I have given to the mortal Kye and Toshiro. I am offering that same blessing to the two of you." She touched her fingers to Yoshika's forehead, then Aya's, without granting her blessing. "With this, you now know the reason I have given my blessing to Kye and Toshiro, and why I am offering it to you as well.

"Aya, if you accept, you will gain complete mastery of Celestial Order until you return to your world. You will face the same drawback as Toshiro. You will be able to speak and act normally, however too much excitement will result in pain.

"Yoshika, if you accept, you will gain complete mastery of True Zen until you return to your world. Due to your experience in True Zen thus far, you will not face the same drawback as Kye. Rather, you will face the same drawback as Toshiro.

"Currently, you have a thirty five percent chance of victory in the war. Aya, if you accept my blessing, the chance will increase to forty five percent, a gain of ten. Yoshika, if you accept, that chance will increase to forty percent, a gain of five. The gain is not as drastic for you because you already have partial mastery. If you both accept, the chance will increase to fifty percent. Knowing the reason I have offered my blessing, and knowing the consequences in accepting my blessing, what is your choice? I require you to vocalize your choice."

Yoshika and Aya put on serious faces and looked at each other. As if on cue, they nodded at each other and said, "I accept."

The Primordial Goddess touched Aya's forehead with her right hand, and Yoshika's forehead with her left hand. "I have given my blessing. You may remain in this dream to test your newly gained abilities. Once you are finished, you need only will yourself awake or asleep to return to the real world in whichever state you desire."

"Thank you," the two said together.

"There is one more issue," she said. **_"From this point, the power of all participants in the war will no longer be manipulable through divine measures. Speaking bluntly, I have grown bored with this childish game of back and forth. Lady Kye and Lord Mavet, particularly, will be unable to further influence the outcome of this war, as will the Deus Telum be unable. As of now, both sides have an equal chance of victory."_**

"Did you just broadcast that to everyone?" Aya asked curiously.

"Yes. However, while you hear it now, everyone else that is meant to hear it will not hear it until breakfast time at your base. While you are in this dream, any action you take will have no consequence in the real world. You may train in your Awakened State without paying any price. I will now take my leave." She vanished, leaving a somewhat surprised Yoshika and Aya behind.

The two exchanged glances, and their surprise soon changed to excitement, which in turn caused both of them to feel a slight spike of pain.

"Duel?" Yoshika asked.

"Duel," Aya said.

The two summoned their blades, activated their Awakened States, and activated their True Zen and Celestial Auras, respectively. They bowed to each other briefly before beginning.

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

Toshiro's consciousness returned to him in the dead hours of the early morning. The first thing he felt was warmth, but it wasn't just the warmth of the bed sheets, heated by his own body. The second thing he felt was firm but gentle pressure applied to the right side of his body and across his chest. The sensation of movement across his chest ended and it moved over to his left cheek.

He turned his head to the right and saw her, looking at him with her golden eyes, full of compassion for him.

"Good morning, Master," she said with a smooth voice and added a fitting smile.

"Good morning, Livy," Toshiro gave her a smile back in kind and slowly stroked her right side. "Will it sound cheesy to say that your body is godly?"

Livy giggled and replied, "That's a fact. Right, Master?"

"Yeah... Damn, I feel like a dunce for passing out..."

"Too much stimuli is too much, Master. I thought I was going to pass out myself..." she mumbled.

"Huh? Was it your...?" Toshiro stopped midsentence as he saw that her face was burning up fast with embarrassment.

"My Master the Allgod had no interest in me in _that_ department..." Livy muttered.

"So in that regard, I'm better than an Elder God!" Toshiro smirked.

"Heehee... Indeed, Master."

Toshiro looked deep into her eyes and asked, "Your eyes are different than the rest of the Elder God rabble."

"It's only an illusion I put up for you, Master..." Livy said quietly, as her eyes changed.

Toshiro saw as lines slowly started appearing around her eye, intersecting at each other and forming a familiar shape of an icosagram, a twenty point star polygon, just like with the other Elder Gods.

"You always wanted to be treated like a mortal, and to speak to mortals, Master. I know that my _fake_ eyes resemble those of your sun goddess, so because she is the only one you like, I copied that look."

"And you, silly." Toshiro smiled. "I also like you. And you can pick which design you want to go with, really."

"Then if it's not a big deal, I'll keep these here, okay, Master? This is a matter of pride if we meet our enemies face to face..."

"Sure..." He sighed. "Here we're lying in bed together, naked as on the day of our birth, and we're having small talk as if the world wasn't going to end today... But there's one thing that's reassuring me, only a teensy little bit, but it does."

"What is it, Master?"

_ Oh the joy of a normal conversation without mind reading..._

"Doran told me that there are only three Elder Gods that can deny the immortality of Elder Gods, plus Chief Primordial herself."

"Well..." Livy looked down at the bed. "I will live but..."

Toshiro placed his finger on her lips and whispered into her ear.

"You think that could work, Master?"

"That's the last resort, Livy, and it only depends on whether the Primordial Goddess has enough fucks to give about me."

"I see... But I feel that you would be reluctant to use that, even if you had it available right now."

"You know me all too well, Sweetie." He smiled. "So it's basically still dark outside so..."

Now it was Toshiro that was silenced. "Are you ready for round two, Master? I promise that I'll keep you conscious and fresh as a daisy with my power, if you'll allow it."

Toshiro only nodded. Livy waited for that, so she threw the sheet over them, and the tumbling began anew.


	32. Chapter 32: Calm Before (Part 2)

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 32: Calm Before (Part 2)**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

"The conflict is coming to a close soon," said Lord Zalen, retired King of the Gods. He and the other members of the God Council were gathered on the home world of the God Realm.

"Indeed," Amaterasu concurred. "However, I can't help but worry that they will not succeed. Mavet is very powerful, being an Elder God." She sighed. "Heh, until recently I didn't even know the Elder Gods existed."

"We have always operated under the belief that there existed a primordial deity for each universe," said Lady Xera, current Queen of the Gods.

"Yet now we know that the Goddess of the Seven Stars is not the Primordial Goddess responsible for the creation of the Seven Stars, but the Elder God who acts as its guardian," said Lady Zana, Goddess of War.

"We also now know that the Legendary Jouten is an Elder God," said Lord Zanith, God of Arcane Magic. "Not only that, but Doran, Michelle, Ariel, and Adriel are also Elder Gods."

"The revelation of these Elder Gods is momentous," Zalen said. "It is almost unfathomable how much more powerful they are than we, so much so that they consider anything less than them to be mortal."

"Even us," Xera added. "To them, _we are mortal_. All they need to do is imagine us dead and it is so. Mavet does seem to have a degree of honor, however. He could very well disregard this war and do what he wants."

"Do you think he will hold up that honor if he loses the simulation?" Amaterasu asked. "He wants my universe destroyed. Even if he loses, not even Kye can stop him."

"You say that as if you believe he will win," Zana said. "You must not doubt our warriors. The mortal magic users have grown much with their experiences, and our immortal warriors of the Light Kingdom are there to share their knowledge and skill. I firmly believe that our forces will succeed."

"And I as well," Zanith added. "As that one mortal says... "There's nothing a witch can't do!" I find that phrase very assuring."

"I believe, too," Amaterasu said softly. "Toshiro is there. I chose very wisely when I set my eyes on him."

"Indeed," Zalen said.

* * *

Toshiro woke up yet again that morning, but this time, he was lying on the top of Livy's soft body.

"Oh, crap, did I pass out again?" he said as he tried getting off her, but she stopped him.

"Yes, Master, but I don't blame you. I would never think that I would have sex two times in such a short time span... And with _you_ on top of that..."

"So you didn't see it coming?" Toshiro asked, surprised.

"No, Master," she replied honestly. "The key to understand it is the word "nigh"."

"Nigh... Nigh omnipotence... Nigh omniscience... So some things are barred from your foresight?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied briefly. "Oh, I'm detecting the young Mistress and the otherworldly Mistress running to our room."

"Are they? Hmm... Should we... surprise them?" Toshiro asked with a sly smile.

"I don't know what's on your mind, Master, but your wish is my command." She smiled in the same manner.

* * *

"Don't knock!" Aya whispered as they ran up silently to the door.

Yoshika nodded, and she opened the door swiftly.

"Yo, Grandp..." Aya stopped midsentence, as she saw something out of her imagination.

Livy was lying naked in bed, looking up and with her arms behind her head, and Toshiro was behind her on his side, propping up his head with his right arm, also naked.

"Well hello there, you two," Toshiro greeted.

"Good morning, Mistresses," Livy said nonchalantly.

"Well then..." both girls muttered under their noses.

A glint appeared in Aya's eyes, and suddenly Toshiro bent in half, grabbing his crotch area.

"Oooooof! What the..." he moaned and looked down. "Tight leather pants? Yoshika?!"

Yoshika only smiled devilishly and pointed to her side at Aya, who then formed a small ball of monochromatic energy.

"No fucking way..." Toshiro said, sounding amazed, while loosening his pants with his power. "Did... Did you get a visit from a certain somebody, Aya?"

"Not only Aya," Yoshika said. "My full mastery has been granted too."

"Woah! Wait, how can you speak? You and Kye have the same power and she's a mute!"

"I already had partial mastery from a year's worth of training."

"Ah. Hmm. So you two have complete mastery as well... But that means that... Did she say that our odds increased?!"

Both of them nodded in unison, and Aya said, "Fifty percent dead, Grandpa. It's basically a coin flip now."

"Oh no, young Mistress." Livy raised herself into an upright position. "Luck won't be involved in any manner. I plan to give my best to help everyone my Master holds dear."

"It's hard to take you seriously when you're butt naked..." Aya snickered.

"Bah..." Livy snorted and clad herself in her usual clothes using her power.

"Did you two..." Yoshika looked between Livy and Toshiro.

"I got lucky." Toshiro slammed his chest with an open palm. "Twice."

"Ugh, I guess you don't want me then?" Yoshika asked.

"You offering?"

"Maaaaaaaaaaaaybeeeee..." Yoshika mused with an innocent smile on her face.

Toshiro jumped up and ripped apart his pants.

"Sit." Livy instinctively pushed him down back on the bed, this time fully clothed in normal clothing courtesy of her power. She quickly caught herself and apologized, "Oh, pardon... Master, that was rude of me..."

"Meh, don't sweat it. As I said, Yoshika wouldn't do it with me, because of her good spirit."

"My what now?" Yoshika asked. "Ooooh... You were concerned that I would be concerned about your pain issue, right?"

"Indeed," Toshiro confirmed. "And besides, if we did it after you got your little present..."

Yoshika shuddered, but she had to massage the temple of her head slightly.

"Hah, perv!" Toshiro shouted.

"Oh shush!" Yoshika rebuked.

"Holy fucking brothels, Batman..." Doran appeared in the doorway. "Now this is a fine mess."

"Sup, brah?" Toshiro raised his hand.

"Toshiro, your harem is expanding at an alarming rate. Next thing you'll be banging Michelle, ha!"

Doran suddenly flew forward past the light of the doorway. Standing behind where Doran had been, Michelle shouted, "I'll fuck you with my boot!"

Doran flew face first into the opposite wall. His face stuck into the wall while the rest of his body slumped down to the floor. "Oww..."

"Better yet, I'll grow a dick and make you my bitch," she added, causing both Doran and Toshiro to shudder at the thought. She quickly calmed down. "Maybe that's taking it a little too far."

"You think?" Doran said after pulling his head out of the wall. Miraculously, the broken pieces of the wall floated up from the floor and reformed in their former place on the wall. It looked as if nothing had touched it.

"That was weird..." Toshiro mumbled, then a thought hit him. "So I have a question for you and Michelle."

"What's that?" they asked in unison.

"What is your special power? I know Kye and Joey's is True Zen, the Allgod and Livy's is Celestial Order, and Mavet and Maeve's is Celestial Chaos, but I don't know yours."

"Telekinetic Force," Michelle answered. "With it, we have complete domination of matter." She touched a finger to the door. "For example, this wooden door..." She turned the door to sawdust and the doorknob to brass powder, and levitated each group of matter in separate circles around her hand.

"Can you use that at a mortal level?" Toshiro asked. "Such as against the Neuroi?"

Michelle returned the sawdust and brass powder to their proper place as a door before answered, "Yes, and we do. We can atomize a Neuroi with it, providing we have more power than the Neuroi we target. Living beings are resistant to our power, where non-living is not."

"I see. Okay now you, Yoshika," Toshiro said. "What exactly _is_ True Zen?"

"In a literal sense, it is everything," Yoshika answered. "Zen is all types of energy rolled into one. True Zen takes that to the most extreme. It is everything rolled into one."

"Adding to that," Goddess Kye said as she appeared, causing Toshiro to grumble, "True Zen and Omnipotence are synonymous, granted only the Primordial Goddess can wield True Zen in its Omnipotent glory. The rest of us are limited in potency, though we can still do everything True Zen allows. Such as Yoshika can do everything I can do with it, though her potency is at mortal level and mine is at nigh omnipotent level."

"You always manage to ruin the moment," Toshiro said with a sigh.

"Whatever..." she said before disappearing.

"Success!" Toshiro shouted with a fist pump.

"Dude, you're gonna piss her off," Doran added.

"Meh, she already pissed me off plenty."

"I know you have your issues with her, but she really is looking out for you."

"And that is why I'm pissed off. She could have just told me everything from the beginning, but noooo... I know why she kept it from me, and it's a legitimate reason, but it still pissed me off!"

"Fair enough, I suppose," Doran said.

"I'm going to breakfast now," Michelle said. She glared at Doran. "And you're coming, too, or I really will grow a dick and make you blow me. In front of everyone present."

Doran and Toshiro shuddered again at the thought.

"Let's go."

Doran reluctantly got up. As they walked out he said, "You keep up that attitude and you won't be able to walk after our next..."

Michelle stopped short and replied, "You sure about that? The way you've been lately, I don't know. You've been "Kye this" and "Kye that". You haven't even _LOOKED_ at me with lewd eyes since we got here!"

"Well... you _have_ been more abrasive than usual," he said with a sigh. "It's my fault."

"And I will give you one chance to fix it," she said before vanishing.

"Where'd she go?" Toshiro asked.

"She teleported to an uninhabited planet," Doran told him. "Yeah... it's totally my fault."

"So what now... You gonna pork her?"

""Pork her," he says." Doran laughed. "Something like that."

"Why a different planet, though?"

"Dude, we're both fully realized Elder Gods. It can get a little destructive."

"I feel bad for that planet," Livy said. She put on an olden voice. "We knew ye well!"

"Anyway, I'll see you guys at breakfast if we get back in time," Doran said before vanishing.

"I know it's socially acceptable in certain cultures," Toshiro said, "but the whole cousin sex thing still weirds me out."

"Technically they are siblings," Livy said. "Technically all the Elder Gods are siblings with the Primordial Goddess being our mother."

"I'm just gonna not think about that."

"Well, Aya and I need to get back to the kitchen," Yoshika said. "We left Lynne by herself after we finished cooking."

"We'll catch up shortly," Toshiro said.

"See you soon, Grandpa," Aya said as she and Yoshika left, closing the door behind them.

Livy shot Toshiro a lewd glance and asked, "You want to see it, don't you?"

Toshiro swallowed hard and looked away while saying, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Uh huh..." Livy glared at him.

"Okay, fine fine. Maybe I want to see it... a little."

Livy generated a television and remote control. "If they'll let us watch, then this will work." She pressed the power button, and the television came to life, showing Doran and Michelle.

Toshiro's eyes went wide as he watched. "Holy mother of..."

* * *

Roughly an hour after Yoshika and Aya returned to the kitchen, the breakfast crowd had almost died down. Most had already finished and left, though a few were still around. The 501st girls didn't show up for breakfast until forty five minutes in. Yoshika, Lynne, and Aya sat down with them. Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael showed up soon after and sat at the end of their long table, with a few spots in between them.

At the hour mark, Yoshika, Lynne, Aya, and the other 501st girls had finished eating but lingered to talk, and a few of them offering to help clean up. Toshiro and Livy showed up then and sat down between the 501st girls and the three Mayas.

Only five minutes after Toshiro and Livy arrived, Doran and Michelle finally appeared. Their clothes were in tatters, but only Yoshika, Aya, Toshiro, Livy, and the other Mayas noticed before the two repaired their clothing with their power. Michelle, however, neglected to fix her hair. Her red hair was normally curly and reached to her chest, but it was very messy, some of it straightened out and reaching close to her hips. They sat down with the other three Mayas and the comments began.

"You're disgusting, Michelle," Michael said.

"Mmm," she mumbled in response.

"You're incestuous, Michelle."

"That's nice."

Yoshika and Toshiro raised an eyebrow.

"Is that really Michelle?" Mio whispered to Minna.

"I... think so?" Minna wasn't sure how to respond.

Danielle waved her hand in front of Michelle.

"Hi, Dani," Michelle mumbled before taking a bite of bacon.

Danielle sighed and looked at Doran. "How long this time?"

"An hour."

"Well. I reckon she'll be mellow all morning. Maybe through the afternoon, too."

Toshiro scooted over next to Doran and asked, "Dude, what the hell did you do to her?"

"He made me feel good," Michelle answered matter-of-factly. "He made me feel _real_ good."

Ariel and Adriel suddenly appeared. Ariel said, "There you two are. You disappeared for an hour and we couldn't sense you."

Adriel added, "Where the hell were..." He stopped short after Michelle gave him a wry glance. "I don't want to know."

"You don't?" she asked. "But I want you to know!"

"I think I'm good, Mom."

"No. You're not, but I am. I had your Daddy's dick inside me."

"Yeah..." Adriel vanished.

Elizabeth glared at Michelle, a gesture Michelle ignored.

Michelle turned to Ariel, "What about you?"

"You're not running me off _that_ easily."

"Oh? What if I said that I'm full of your Daddy's baby juice? Hmm?"

"I'd say that I want a baby brother."

Michelle grabbed Ariel's shirt and pulled her down to eye level. "I just might let it happen."

"Ariel, shoo!" Doran said quickly. "Don't give her ideas!"

"But I want a baby brother!"

"No, you want a son. Now shoo!"

"I do want a son. Maybe I should..."

Doran cut her off. "If you finish that thought and make it reality, I will stripe your ass with Elizabeth's belt. In fact, I'll let Elizabeth do it."

Ariel glanced over to Elizabeth, who had a glint in her eyes.

"Oh, come on, I wasn't gonna poof a son into existence just like that..." Ariel mumbled.

"You were," Doran said firmly.

"Both of you hush up!" Michelle hissed. "Ariel, I love you, you're my daughter, but if you ruin my post-sex buzz, I will beat you like a red-headed stepchild!"

Ariel gasped and vanished.

"That's what I thought." Michelle turned to Doran. "And if you ruin my post-sex buzz, I will genderbend both of us and we'll have round two. And it'll be ten times as intense as just now."

"Been there, done that," Toshiro said with a smirk.

"Yeah..." Doran said as he took a bite of toast. He looked Michelle directly in the eyes and said, "I love you, Michelle."

Michelle smiled and quietly continued her breakfast.

"I don't even know what to think..." Minna said.

"When those two do the nasty, you just kind of have to look the other way," Michael said.

"Emphasis on the "nasty" part," Elizabeth added with an uneasy look about her eyes.

"Heh..."

Before anyone else could comment, everyone heard a telepathic message.

**_ "From this point, the power of all participants in the war will no longer be manipulable through divine measures. Speaking bluntly, I have grown bored with this childish game of back and forth. Lady Kye and Lord Mavet, particularly, will be unable to further influence the outcome of this war, as will the Deus Telum be unable. As of now, both sides have an equal chance of victory."_**

"...what?" several people said.

"How the fuck did I hear that?" Toshiro shouted. Then he realized who the voice belonged to. "Wait..."

"Yeah, that was our proverbial mother," Doran said. "The Primordial Goddess."

"That's good, though," Toshiro said. "Fifty percent chance? That's good odds, considering what it was before."

Yoshika and Aya traded glances and smirked at each other.

"Fifty percent?" Mio shouted as she stood up abruptly. "We are witches! Even one percent is enough for us! There is nothing a witch can't do!"

"I haven't heard that in a while," Toshiro mused.

"There's nothing a witch can't do!" Perrine echoed as she stood up.

Everyone else stood up and joined in. "There's nothing a witch can't do!"

* * *

Everyone prepared for the coming battle their own way. Some did some last minute training while others simply relaxed. After lunch, everyone visited the hanger, one group at a time, to put on their Striker Flight Suits, after which they were told to meet in the gym where the commanders could brief everyone.

After the briefing, Zen got up on the stage and took the microphone. "You all know my name by now, but I'll reintroduce myself anyway. I am Zen Akari, God of Darkness. I the sovereign of dark energy. Ten thousand years ago, I cursed a large portion of the Neuri Tribe and transformed them into the monsters known as Neuroi. Two times, a Miyafuji gifted with the power of True Zen tried to cleanse them. Neither of them could do so before their young deaths at twenty two years old.

"There is one among us, Yoshika Miyafuji, who succeeded in cleansing the Neuroi just over one year ago. What she has today that her ancestors, Yuko and Yoshika, did not is all of you. Almost ten thousand years ago, Yuko Miyafuji fought with Light Kingdom Crown Princess Kye Akari by her side, but the two of them could not do it alone. Five thousand years ago, the ancient Yoshika Miyafuji fought alongside her two sisters and cousin, but the four of them could not do it. Both Yuko Miyafuji and the ancient Yoshika Miyafuji possessed True Zen, being our Yoshika's predecessors as Elder Goddess Kye Akari's champions, and they fully mastered it through training.

"In each of their times, Yuko and Yoshika managed to suppress the Neuroi, but they could not cleanse them. In this era, Yoshika Miyafuji had many friends to help her. However, even with the power of True Zen, she could never have done it alone, but with her friends by her side our Yoshika Miyafuji was able to cleanse the Neuroi.

"Today, the stakes are much higher. The fate of two worlds are on the line. Today, we stand together. There are even more of us now than there was a year ago. I have witnessed the bond of witches firsthand. Together, there is nothing we cannot accomplish."

"There's nothing a witch can't do!" Mio added.

"That's right," Zen continued. "If I had been asked a year ago, I probably would not have cared to help. Your friendship, your bonds have changed my mind. There's no place I would rather be right now than here with all of you. Today, we stand together, today we fight, and today... _WE WILL WIN_!"

Everyone cheered and pumped their fists in the air.


	33. Chapter 33: The Storm (Part 1)

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 33: The Storm (Part 1)**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

As the witches approached the center of the continent, then ten groups assigned to take down the forts flew ahead. Those that had to fly to the other side of the battle zone split off and headed to an ultra-high altitude to fly over the hive. The first group - Yoshika's group - headed to the northern most fort as assigned. The second group went to the closest north eastern fort, and the other teams went to each corresponding fort beyond that, as if they were assigned to each position on a ten hour clock with one being in place of twelve. The two backup fort groups flew to an ultrahigh altitude directly above the center of the hive and waited, able to reach any side of the five hundred kilometer wide barrier.

Under the instructions given by Yami during the briefing, the main groups not participating in the fort infiltrations flew around the side into set positions. The 516th forces not participating in the fort teams all grouped up and headed to the north side of the hive. The battle commanders of each 511th group took over since Bell, Valterri, Lion, and Yusu were assigned to fort teams. The 511th European and 511th Liberion groups headed to the west side, where they then split up into separate groups, each an equal distance from each other and from the north and south points. The Karlslander and Fuso Groups did the same on the east side, and the 511th Fuso group took the south point.

The remaining forces that had no assignment spread themselves out, going where they were needed. They were Kye, Toshiro, Shirley, Lucchini, Sanya, Eila, Lynne, and the Maya Group. Toshiro flew up to where Zen and the other backup fort teams were.

No Neuroi came out from the barrier, but everyone remained vigilant, ready for anything.

Zen watched from high above the hive, being in a backup fort team, as everyone got in position. Once they were ready, he gave the signal to Toshiro. "Everyone is ready."

"Alright," Toshiro said. "Give the order."

Zen nodded and declared, "Begin the operation!"

* * *

"Begin the operation!" Zen declared.

Yoshika, Mio, and Yusu flared up their respective auras, broke through the barrier protecting the fort, and entered. They encountered a lot of resistance, though mostly from lower class Neuroi.

Mio and Yusu fended off several Neuroi at a time, each killing upwards of five with a single Reppuzan, and sometimes cleaving two or three humanoid Neuroi with one swing of their blade.

Yoshika wanted to conserve her strength as much as possible so she mostly watched, though she did defend Mio and Yusu at times.

The group fought through the insides of the fort, occasionally coming across a powerful humanoid Neuroi.

"**Zen Reppuzan!**" Yusu shouted as she cleaved a fairly strong humanoid Neuroi in half with a powerful Reppuzan attack that continued further and destroyed several more.

"**Obliterate!**" Mio shouted, launching a wave of black magic down the tunnel below them to clear out a path. "Let's go!"

The three flew straight down inside the tunnel, but soon found themselves at a dead end.

"The core is on the other side of this floor," Mio said. "I can see it with my eye."

"And I can sense its power," Yusu added.

The two looked toward Yoshika. She nodded at them, and the two launched simultaneous Reppuzans at the floor. They managed to break through.

The three descended into the core chamber, and were greeted by an arrogant humanoid Neuroi. "Three little bugs have flown into my chamber. I better find the fly swatter!" It laughed with an ear piercing screech.

Yoshika, not wanting to deal with the obnoxious Neuroi, simply launched a rainbow colored Reppuzan and destroyed both it and the core with the single attack.

"Thank god..." Yusu said with a sigh.

"Ugh, my ears are still ringing from that laugh," Mio moaned.

* * *

"Begin the operation!" Zen declared.

Aya, Rei, and Kamiko, being the second team, powered up their auras and entered the northeast fort closest to the north fort.

As it was the first time she had ever used Celestial Order in real combat, she decided to be cautious and follow Rei's lead inside the fort.

After they broke inside, they encountered several lower class Neuroi. Not wanting to waste time, Kamiko blasted them away with her Light Magic. "**Modify: Keikei, Kibaku, Bunkatsu, Sanjuu! Kousen!**" Adding the Piercing, Exploding, Splitting, Piercing, and Triplicate Augmentations to her Ray of Light technique, she launched three powerful beams of light that pierced through several Neuroi. Each time a beam hit a Neuroi, two smaller beams split off inside the Neuroi and exploded to deal more damage. The majority of the Neuroi hit were destroyed, with only a few left, albeit in bad shape.

"**Light Darts,**" Rei said, holding her hand toward the remaining Neuroi. Roughly one hundred darts made of light magic materialized in front of the three witches. Rei willed them forward and cleared out the remaining weakened Neuroi.

"Good combo," Aya commented.

"Thanks," Rei replied. "Let's go."

They continued forward, swatting down the occasional group of Neuroi. Aya managed to blow up one group with one celestial orb attack, and unintentionally blew up a whole section of the fort.

"Whoa..." Aya mumbled. "I knew my powers were a lot stronger now, but I didn't expect it to be so..."

"Powerful?" Rei said.

"Explosive?" Kamiko added.

Aya shook her head. "Awesome."

Rei and Kamiko exchanged amused glances.

"I sense something," Aya said as she approached one of the walls in the tunnel they were navigating.

"Now that you mention it..." Rei said as she approached the same wall. "I do, too."

"Let's bust it down!" Kamiko cheered. "Aya?"

Aya rubbed her hands together and covered the wall in a thin layer of celestial magic that soon disintegrated the wall. They found themselves in the core chamber.

"I have uninvited guests," a Neuroi said as it approached. "I'll have to rectify that."

Aya prepared to attack, but Rei and Kamiko jumped forward first. Rei jumped further, landing behind the Neuroi and turned around to flank it. Both sheathed their swords before jumping forward and shouting, "**Seiken: Heikou Suto!** (Holy Sword: Parallel Strike!)" They imbued their swords with intense light magic and simultaneously performed a powerful draw cut on the Neuroi.

Their twin attack easily cut the Neuroi's core in three pieces, leaving it to shatter into fragments soon after.

"I feel sorry for anyone who comes between you two," Aya said with a dry laugh. She quickly put on a serious face and shot a celestial orb at the fort's core, destroying it instantly.

"We're the best!" Kamiko cheered as the three shared a hive five.

* * *

"Begin the operation!" Zen declared.

The third team - Minna, Trude, and Erica - flared up their auras and broke into the third fort. As with the Yoshika's team and Aya's team, they were welcomed by a tunnel full of Neuroi, mostly humanoid types. Not wanting to waste any time, the three Karlslanders charged in.

"**Trümmerschlag!**" Trude completely annihilated the first Neuroi she came across with a powerful blow.

"Jesus, Trudy, I think you killed it!" Erica commented.

"Like a True Soldier of Karlsland!"

"Stay alert!" Minna said as several Neuroi launched beams at them. Minna drew all of the beams in to her glaive momentarily. "**Großer Gegenschlag!**" She added her power to the collected energy, but unlike with Bell's performance of the technique that launched one massive blast back toward the targets, Minna launched the same number of beams back that she collected.

"Good shot, Minna!" Trude said.

"There's still more coming!"

"I got them," Erica said as she prepared for them. "**Großer Sturm!**" She generated a powerful wind vortex and willed it forward at the remaining Neuroi. Her attack blew them around, some of them shattering from impacting each other while others shattered from the winds piercing their cores. As the wind intensity increased, the number of remaining Neuroi decreased. Erica continued upping the wind speed until there were no Neuroi remaining.

"Why didn't you just blast them with compressed wind like you usually do?" Trude asked.

"I wouldn't have got them all," Erica answered.

"You sure?"

Erica nodded.

"Let's move forward," Minna said.

They continued into the fort, but just as they were about to round the first corner, a single humanoid Neuroi rounded the corner first. Trude responded with the same overwhelming attack that she used on the first Neuroi.

"Kablewy!" Erica cheered as Neuroi parts flew every which way.

"That one startled me a little," Trude said as she took a deep breath.

They continued forward and soon came up to a fork in the tunnel. One direction was empty while the other was filled with Neuroi all heading toward the trio. Erica quickly threw a powerful burst of wind at them and flew off into the empty tunnel. Trude and Minna reluctantly followed her, but they soon encountered an even bigger group of Neuroi. Trude flew ahead toward the big group and stopped before intercepting.

"**Donnerschlag! **(Thunderclap!)" Trude shouted as she clapped her hands together. She generated a shockwave that blew the Neuroi back, destroying a large number of them, but also blowing her backwards toward Minna and Erica. The two managed to catch Trude.

"That's a new one," Minna said.

"I've had it for a little while, but I don't like it that much," Trude said. "It's useful for a group, but I haven't figured out how to do it without knocking myself back, too."

"It sure is strong, though." Erica whistled as she looked at the destruction. "You blew a hole in the walls, ceiling, and floor with that one. And the Neuroi that survived are littered across the tunnel."

Minna quickly followed up, using her Area Destruction ultimate to target the remaining Neuroi and destroy them, at the expense of an appropriate portion of her magic.

"And now we're all clear," Erica said.

"Wait," Minna said. "I sense the fort's core, and a powerful humanoid Neuroi is guarding it. It is... three floors below us."

"Then let's punch through!" Trude said as she immediately flew through the hole in the floor left by her Donnerschlag technique. She used the Trümmerschlag technique twice in succession after that to punch through the remaining two floors.

Just as Minna had said, the three found themselves inside the core chamber.

"Greetings," the Neuroi guard said. "I would ask you to stay, but I'm not accepting guests at the moment."

"That's okay, we'll be in and out," Erica replied. "Just stand there while we break this core and we'll be on our way."

"Funny," the Neuroi said as it charged forward, dodging Trude's attack as she countered.

The Neuroi attacked Erica, but couldn't break through her defense. Erica subtly nodded at Trude and Minna.

Taking Erica's silent signal, the two prepared their attack. Erica jumped back away from the Neuroi and did the same. The three then jumped toward the unsuspecting Neuroi and barraged it from all three sides.

"**Dreifach Todesschlag! **(Triple Death Strike)" the three shouted together. The force of their attack obliterated the Neuroi, the core, and most of the fort, though the rest of the fort soon collapsed as well with its core being destroyed.

"Woo!" Erica cheered. "We did it!"

"Like True Soldiers of Karlsland," Trude added.

"You mean like the Karlsland Triumvirate!" Minna corrected, earning a look of surprise from both Trude and Erica. "What?"

* * *

"Begin the operation!" Zen declared.

The fourth team - Perrine, Louise, and Yuko - activated their auras and charged into the fourth fort. Perrine took the lead.

As with the other teams, they quickly ran into a large group of Neuroi. Perrine and Louise quickly dispatched them with a combined chain lightning attack.

"Bravo, you two," Yuko praised.

Perrine and Louise gave her simultaneous victory signs before the three moved on.

For every corner they rounded, they met with another group of Neuroi. Each group was dealt with quickly enough, having two experienced lightning witches on the job. Yuko didn't have to do anything for a while.

Eventually, though, they came up on a group of Neuroi that had a few humanoid types that managed to survive the chain lightning attack, though Yuko quickly finished them off with well aimed small beams of raw magic energy.

As they continued, Yuko started sensing the fort's core. The closer they got, the better she could sense it, and the two lightning witches soon sensed it, too.

"I think it's..." Yuko paused for a moment. She raised her hand toward the left wall of the tunnel they were in and fired a beam of magic large enough to make a hole they could fly through. "This way."

They navigated through the holes, fighting off a few groups of Neuroi as they went, and soon found the core chamber.

"What do I have here?" the Neuroi guard asked rhetorically. "I smell some rats!"

Yuko held her hand up, preparing to launch another magic beam, but Perrine and Louise stepped in front of her.

"We'll handle the Neuroi," Perrine said.

"You take care of the core," Louise added.

Yuko nodded and aimed her hand toward the core.

Perrine and Louise each drew their enchanted rapiers and charged them with lightning magic. Louise stood still as Perrine charged toward the Neuroi. In a quick exchange of blows, neither one landing a hit, Perrine managed to twist around behind the Neuroi. Louise then struck the Neuroi with a continuous lightning bolt using her rapier as a catalyst. Perrine mirrored the attack. The force of both continuous lightning charges stunned the Neuroi.

The two maintained their lightning as they backed away from the Neuroi. After a certain distance, they formed ball lightning in their free hand and threw them toward the Neuroi, striking it at the same time. As they struck, they generated a powerful vertical bolt that extended through the ceiling and the floor, out of the fort – on to the ground and high into the sky.

The core was only grazed by the super charged lightning, but it still cracked under the pressure. Yuko changed her tactic from preparing a magic beam to simply finishing it off with a draw cut sword discharge technique, the Battōjutsu Reppuzan.

She turned toward the lightning witches and praised them. "That was quite the show. One might even say it was _shocking_."

They high fived each other and replied, "That's the power of Gallia!"

* * *

"Begin the operation!" Zen declared.

Then tenth team - Yami, Liliana, and Shadow - phased inside the fort, courtesy of Shadow's magic, and hit them with a surprise attack.

Liliana opened up with one of her favored techniques. "**Kiru Ichiren.**" She teleported to a humanoid Neuroi and sliced it apart before quickly teleporting to the next. She continued this for ten seconds straight, killing thirty humanoid Neuroi along the way. Each time she appeared, the other Neuroi bombarded her with beams, but she vanished again before any of them could hit. Some of the Neuroi destroyed their own by accident.

Yami smiled at the scene in front of her and prepared her own technique. "**Mahou Shinten Taiho!**" She launched a massive beam of raw magic energy down, destroying every Neuroi that was in its path.

Shadow followed up by cloaking herself and flying into the middle of what was left of the Neuroi group. She reappeared there and flung her arms outward. "**Void Bomb.**" An omnidirectional wave of dark purple energy launched from her aura and vaporized the remaining Neuroi.

"Oh man, Shadow is getting serious," Yami teased.

"Yeah, no kidding," Liliana added. "She hardly ever uses offensive Shadow Magic."

Shadow merely sighed and moved ahead. Yami and Liliana followed behind her.

They encountered several groups of Neuroi as they continued on through the fortress. Shadow used her Void Bomb on some of the groups, Yami used her Magic Nova, and Liliana used her Gravity Wave. Each had a powerful area of effect. The Magic Nova was almost identical to the Light Nova and Dark Nova, just with raw magic instead of light or dark magic. The Gravity Wave, a powerful space magic technique, generated enormous gravity on a single point with its effect reaching out a fair distance to pull in crush anything caught.

Soon, all three could sense the power emanating from the core. Shadow then phased the group toward the source until they found the core chamber.

They were greeted by a rather aggressive Neuroi, "Your lives are forfeit."

It charged at the group. Shadow charged at it in return, but phased through it.

"If you do that I can't hit you, but you can't hit me either," the Neuroi said.

Shadow held up the Neuroi's core for it to see. "Not true." She vaporized the core using her Shadow Magic and watched as the Neuroi itself shattered into white fragments.

Liliana followed up by launching an attack on the fort's core. "**Shockwave Strike!**" She launched a stream of magic that generated powerful gravity. Near the stream, the gravity pulled everything inward, but further away from the steam, everything was blown outward. The attack pierced through the core and caused part of it to implode while the rest was blown away by the shockwave.

"Good job," Yami praised.

"Only the best for you, Princess," Shadow said.

"Courtesy of the Venturi Sisters," Liliana added.

* * *

Zen and Toshiro exchanged smirks as they watched all ten forts explode into fragments, the last within five seconds of the first.

"Looks like it's time to move on to the next stage," Toshiro said before putting on the most sarcastic tone he could muster. "That first stage was so hard to oversee that I almost couldn't do it."

Zen chuckled at him before flying downward.

Once they made it to the underside of the hive, they saw the enormous number of Neuroi.

"That's a lot of Neuroi," Toshiro commented bluntly.

"No kidding'," Zen said before raising his voice and broadcasting over the radio. "This is it! Before you stands the enemy. Together, we will win!"

Everyone cheered at Zen's words.

"Alea iacta est! Ad victoriam! (The die has been cast. To victory!)"


	34. Chapter 34: The Storm (Part 2)

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 34: The Storm (Part 2)**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

"Alea iacta est! Ad victoriam! (The die has been cast. To victory!)"

On all sides of the hive, the witches erupted into battle against the massive force of Neuroi. Waves of magic and beams of energy crisscrossed through the air.

Each Neuroi Super carrier began launching hundreds of drones at a time. It was almost as if the hive was a storm cloud and the beams were rain.

The witches' efforts were great. Many of them swatted the beams aside as they broke through the enemies' ranks.

* * *

On the north side of the base, the 516th and the Fuso Contingent grouped up, including their members that were part of the fort teams. Ren, Aero, and Aira began attacking the oversized Neuroi with their Blackfire and Darkwind combo.

Yuko used her space magic spell, Phase, to directly attack Neuroi cores. Although her Phase spell was a far cry of Shadow's magic, she could still make herself intangible for about five minutes at a time. However, Phase did not make her invisible or undetectable. When attacking, she only made her sword tangible long enough to slice apart her target's core.

"**Unyou!**" Ayaka and Katsu found themselves teaming up against the larger Neuroi, using their Unyou techniques from opposite sides for maximum damage.

The Trio of the Fuso Sea - Tomoko Anabuki, Takeko Katou, and Keiko Katou - teamed up to quickly take down scores of Neuroi to give their teammates a better shot at destroying the colossal Neuroi.

Yoshiko Nishizawa teamed up with her descendants, Nami and Yori, and targeted the Super Large types with multiple cores for the same reason that the Fuso Sea Trio chose to focus on the smaller Neuroi.

The Fuso Contingent Commander, Fumika Kitagou, coordinated with the remaining Fuso Contingent, 516th B Team, and 516th C Team members so that Zen, the 516th Head Commander, could fight on his own.

While Ayaka and Katsu were in the middle of taking down a colossal Neuroi, they found themselves under attack by a group of five powerful humanoid Neuroi.

"Katsu, leave them to me! You keep at the colossal!" Ayaka ordered.

"But I need a partner to perform the combination Unyou techniques!" Katsu argued. "We're the only two that are good enough to do it!"

"I think there's one more," Ayaka said with a wink.

Hearing that, a member of the 516th C Team split off and flew up toward the two. "Aneue! (Older Sister!) I can help!"

"Kayo?" Katsu said. "You haven't trained enough to pull off these advanced Unyou techniques."

"But I have! Grandma Ayaka has been teaching me!"

Katsu glanced at Ayaka, who had just dodged a Neuroi beam from one of the humanoid types.

"She can do it," Ayaka said firmly. "You're sisters! You can do it together!"

Katsu smiled and said, "Thanks."

Ayaka nodded and took off toward the incoming group of humanoid Neuroi while Katsu and Kayo traded confident glances.

Before they could discuss strategy, the colossal Neuroi launched a massive energy beam at them. Being too strong for a normal shield, Katsu chose a different defensive method.

"**Unyou!**" she shouted as she hit the beam with the technique. She split the beam in several pieces, each which destroyed several smaller Neuroi before ultimately being negated by the shields of other witches fighting in the nearby area. Katsu looked to Kayo. "Do you know the flanking version of Unyou?"

"Yes."

"Okay. I'll take the other side, you launch yours from this side," Katsu said.

Kayo nodded.

Katsu flew to the other side, dodging beams as she went, but as she prepared to launch the flanking attack with Kayo, she was hit in the back with a Neuroi beam. The beam tore through her Magic Aura, but was greatly diminished so it only burned a circle into the skin of her back.

"**Reppuzan!**" she shouted as she turned around and quickly discharged a blast of magic at the source of the beam that had hit her. It was a relatively small Neuroi, which surprised her. Her attack destroyed it, but left her wondering. "A Neuroi that small could penetrate my defense?"

"Aneue!" Kayo called over the radio. "I'm ready!"

Katsu dismissed the idea and returned to her priority. "I'm ready, too. On three. One... Two..."

"**Unyou!**" the two shouted in unison. Their attacks penetrated deep inside the Neuroi and met in the center. The flanking attack hit the core and shattered it in an instant.

The Neuroi, as well as the several hundred drones it had released, all shattered at once.

Several of their teammates were suddenly freed up and could move on to other targets.

Ayaka finished up with the humanoid Neuroi shortly after and rejoined Katsu and Kayo. "Let's try three person techniques now."

Katsu and Kayo shared confident glances again and agreed, "Yeah!"

* * *

Shortly after Ayaka, Katsu, and Kayo teamed up, Mio dropped in on the Fusojin ruled battlefield. She was quickly greeted by her long standing friend, Junko Takei. Soon after Mio and Junko began to fight side by side, they were joined by another witch, Yoshiko Nishizawa, who was flanked by 516th C Team Battle Commander Nami Nishizawa and 516th C Team Member Yori Nishizawa.

"Mio! Junko!" Yoshiko called out as she approached her friends. "We should all fight together! I want to show these two how real veterans do it!"

"Don't forget that I've already fought Nami," Mio said. "She already knows how I fight."

"Yeah, but you've gotten a lot stronger since then! Come on, Mio, please!" Yoshiko clasped her hands together and bowed to Mio.

"Enough of that, Yoshiko, I won't have someone of your caliber begging," Mio said with a sigh.

"Hehe!" she giggled while sporting the victory sign.

Nami shared a glance with Yori and said, "Our great grandmother, huh?"

Yori laughed dryly.

"Anyway, here we go!" Yoshiko cheered as she led the group into the fray, instantly activating her ultimate magic aura and launching an enormous Reppuzan through a colossal Neuroi. She managed to hit the core and destroy it in one shot.

"How the..." Yori gasped. Nami was speechless.

"You don't see that every day," Junko calmly commented.

"Hell, even I'm impressed," Mio admitted. "You sure destroyed that one quick, Yoshiko."

Yoshiko gave them a thumbs up and proudly said, "After all, I'm the strongest!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the 511th, assisted by a few members of the 501st, began their battle on the southwest side of the hive. They were still split into their three individual groups, taking three separate points, but each group had their respective commanders back.

Bell, being the Head Commander, had to decide between the three groups, but ultimately decided to go join the Karlslanders so she could tag team with Erica and Ursula. Minna and Trude grouped up with them as well.

Valterri, Lion, and Yusu took command of their units. Valterri's group was assisted by Sanya and Eila, Lion's group was assisted by Lucchini and Shirley, and Yusu's group was assisted by Yoshika, Lynne, and Perrine.

* * *

Perrine and Louise teamed up again, just as they were while inside the fort only minutes earlier. Together, they launched a storm of lightning bolts.

As more and more Neuroi fell to their offensive, Perrine took to her own for a moment and pushed her aura to the ultimate level to augment her magic ability. "First, I have Tonnerre (Thunder), my base level magic spell. Then I have Plusieurs Tonnerre (More Thunder), my ultimate level magic spell. And now I have this! **Orage! (Thunderstorm!)**" Perrine shot a single bolt of lightning upward toward the hive, however it stopped and formed a ball before hitting the clouds. From that single point, Perrine launched several hundred bolts of lightning down upon the Neuroi, razing everything from small Neuroi to super large Neuroi. She even did some major damage to a colossal Neuroi, enough that most of its cores were destroyed, leaving Louise to finish it off with a lightning empowered rapier attack.

"Perrine, when did you learn that?!" Yoshika asked, surprised and impressed by Perrine's display of power.

"Just... Recently..." Perrine said between breaths. She caught her breath before continuing. "I used my Tonnerre with the Ultimate Magic Aura. That's what happened."

"Oh, amazing!"

_I'm not the only one with a surprise, Yoshika,_ Perrine thought with a smile. "Hey, get back to fighting! We have to win!"

Yoshika nodded and launched a Reppuzan toward the nearest Neuroi she could find.

Lynne took the opportunity to support Yoshika. She hated to admit it, but she was somewhat upset for not being able to help Yoshika as much as she wanted throughout the past few weeks, so she was determined to make up for it.

Yoshika dove straight in toward one of the massive Neuroi super carriers, dodging and deflecting beams as necessary. Before she could attack, several dragon shaped Neuroi fired their breath beams at her.

"**Reppuzan!**" Yoshika bisected one with a rainbow colored Reppuzan, but before she could move toward the rest, they shattered into fragments. Yoshika barely was able to see that each one had been shot simultaneously. "Lynne?"

"I'm here, Yoshika!" Lynne called to her.

"What was that? I've never seen you shoot a rifle that fast before."

"I only shot once. With my Ballistic Magic Aura at the ultimate level, I can augment my Ultimate Spell. Do you remember the MIRV missiles from the alternate future?"

"Did you-?"

"That's basically what I did with the Shockwave round just now. I used my magic to duplicate it the instant it left the barrel and guided each shot to those Neuroi. I call it "Ballistic Surge"."

"Wow, Lynne! That's amazing!"

"You've been getting so much stronger. I have to keep up somehow!"

Yoshika smiled at Lynne, a gesture Lynne could only see through the scope on her Shockwave Rifle due to the distance between them.

Knowing that she has more than capable support, Yoshika began her assault on the colossal Neuroi. She sliced it apart in several places, but failed to hit the core. Out of frustration, she condensed an orb of rainbow magic and threw it into the Neuroi before it could regenerate. The orb exploded, and the Neuroi soon shattered, the core having been hit by the explosion.

"That was amazing, Yoshika!" Lynne cheered.

Yoshika turned toward Lynne and gave her the victory sign before moving on. Just as she turned around, a streak of fire zoomed in front of her, burning every Neuroi in its path, soon followed by a streak of ice that froze them over.

"That's the Akiyama sisters for you," Yoshika commented.

Every Neuroi that got burned and frozen shattered soon after. Yoshika watched as the two elemental witches teamed up on a super large dragon type Neuroi and picked it apart as if it were nothing.

_Oh right, they have two magic types. Mei has Mio's Magic Eye and Kiyoko has Takeko's Area Analysis._ Yoshika paused for a moment in thought, then it hit her. She let out a dull face as she realized it. _I'm a dunce..._

"**Seinarugan!**" Yoshika shouted. "Ugh... I get complete mastery, then I go and forget to use the one thing I already fully mastered..."

**_"Gaia, bow mode, please."_**

**_ "Of course."_**

Gaia transformed into a bow whilst in Yoshika's hand. Using her eyes to pinpoint the cores within the colossal Neuroi, she set to work.

"**Sacred Arrow!**" She launched three rainbow arrows at once toward a single colossal Neuroi that looked nearly identical to an aircraft carrier. One arrow hit at the Neuroi's bow, the other at the Neuroi's center, and the last at the stern. Each arrow exploded, completely obscuring the Neuroi from view. Once the rainbow magic faded, nothing was left of the Neuroi but white fragments.

Yoshika turned toward her next target, but noticed that the younger 511th Fuso girls were taking it on.

_Can they do it?_ Yoshika wondered.

Two of Yoshika's descendants, which were also Yusu's younger siblings, Rika and Haru, were fighting alongside the descendants of Fumika Kitagou, Junko Takei, and Tetsuko Wakamoto. Their names were Hitomi Kitagou, Mako Takei, and Kazumi Wakamoto, respectively.

Yoshika considered flying in to help them, but one of the veteran Fuso witches, Tetsuko Wakamoto, approached Yoshika. "Let them prove themselves."

Yoshika nodded and the two watched.

"Everyone! I will use my magic for us!" Mako said as she activated her inherited magic ability, Inspiration.

Feeling empowered, Rika, Haru, and Hitomi fired simultaneous Reppuzans at the Neuroi. They somehow know where to hit, as each one destroyed a core. In response, the remaining cores condensed, and the Neuroi fired hundreds of beams.

Rika and Haru generated shields on top of each other to protect the five from harm. Several beams made their way toward Yoshika, who merely raised a shield to deflect the beams in several directions, destroying many smaller Neuroi in the process.

After the Neuroi's beam barrage, Kazumi activated her magic, causing her hair to grow rapidly. She quickly pumped magic into her blade and charged at the Neuroi. She was met with a massive beam, but she cut it in half as she approached.

"**Kakusei: Tsurugi no Sora! (Awakening: Sword of the Sky!)**" Kazumi shouted as she dived toward her target. Greatly augmenting her blade with her Awakening Magic, she performed a stabbing motion with her sword and pierced clean through the colossal Neuroi, core and all, and exited through the bottom.

The Neuroi soon exploded into fragments. Rika, Haru, Hitomi, and Mako cheered at Kazumi.

"That was quite the technique," Yoshika praised.

"That's right," Tetsuko said. "It took me a month to develop it, and Kazumi mastered it in only two days. I'm proud to call her my great granddaughter."

"Your Awakening magic is incredible, too. It's different from the Awakened State, but it gives a similar, albeit hairy, result."

"When activated, Awakening magic drastically increases our power in a short burst. It's very similar to that Awakened State that you and several of our allies have."

"And she used it very well," Yoshika said. "I know our world will never have to worry about the Neuroi again, but I still feel at ease knowing that the younger generation is so capable."

Tetsuko nodded in agreement. "Indeed."

* * *

Shirley and Francesca found themselves supporting the 511th Liberion group. The group split off into teams of two.

Trude's descendant, Lionhardt Barkhorn, teamed up with Erica's descendant, Friedrich Hartmann, as usual. Shirley's descendants, Allison and Jaden Ventus, teamed up together. Luciana and Leonardo Lucchini, also teamed up. Johan and Alina Wilcke, Minna's descendants, combined their Area Analysis magic to help coordinate their comrades.

Shortly after the battle began, Sanya's descendant and Eila's descendant, Aleksandra Viktoriya "Tori" Kistanov and Aina Inari Virtanen, respectively, requested to go fight with the 511th European front. Lion contacted Valterri for them and the two arranged a trade. From the 511th European group, Elizabeth and Sophia Hartmann, traded places with Tori and Aina.

The Hartmann twins flew in with guns blazing, intent on taking down as many Neuroi as possible. They even empowered their shots with wind magic to quickly dispatch larger Neuroi.

Lion and Fried quickly moved to tag teaming the larger Neuroi. Lion flared up his Super Strength aura and pounded a nearby large type Neuroi to dust with one magic infused punch. He turned toward one of the many colossal Neuroi on the battle field - this one looking like a supersized battleship - and signaled Fried.

"**Großer Trümmerschlag!**" Lion slammed the oversized Neuroi with his fist and shattered a large portion of its body.

"**Großer Sturm!**" Fried followed up using the original method of employing the Sturm spell to barrel through the Neuroi.

Having destroyed four of the Neuroi's cores, the remaining cores merged. Unfortunately for the Neuroi, the cores merged in the open space that Fried destroyed when he barreled through. The two reacted before the Neuroi could regenerate.

"**Luftdruck Faust!**"

"**Luftdruck Schlag!**"

Lion and Fried simultaneously launched their techniques at the vulnerable core. Using his fist, Lion threw a fast, powerful punch toward the target using his magic to super compress the displaced air. He saturated the compressed air with his magic and launched it at the core. Fried's technique did virtually the same thing, only with the pummel of his glaive instead of using his fist.

Their pressurized air blasts hit the core and shattered it with the colossal Neuroi soon to mimic its core.

Not far away, Allison and Jaden were using their battle rifles. With each shot, they modified the speed of their shots, and using Gun Spells, they vastly enhanced the power of each round. Most of the smaller Neuroi fell with a single shot, and even large types took only a few shots.

"The Blade Spell users can eat it," Allison said.

"Haha, yeah," Jaden agreed. "Usin' the Power Shot, we can easily beat their Reppuzan stuff."

"Then there's our ace in the hole." Allison aimed down her sights and filled her entire drum with magic. "**Rapid Fire!**" She opened fire, emptying her entire one hundred round drum in less than five seconds into a colossal type Neuroi. Each shot had the same power as a single standard Reppuzan.

"Ha, good one, Sis. You Swiss cheesed it. But I think our real ace in the hole is this." Jaden popped a special round into his chamber, imbued it with magic, and fired. "**Speed Breaker!**" His round left the barrel with a muzzle velocity of roughly five thousand meters per second, pierced into the center of the massive Neuroi, where the surviving cores had coalesced, and completely vaporized the core and a large portion of the Neuroi's surrounding body.

"Hey, Ventus!" Lucy Lucchini shouted. "That was a good one, but you've got nothing on us!"

"We'll show you how it's done!" Leo Lucchini added.

"Bring it on Lucchini!" Allison replied with her fist on her chest. Francesca's ears perked up just then, and she turned to watch.

Lucy and Leo targeted the next colossal Neuroi and circled it several times each. Both left behind charges of explosive sunlight magic while dodging beams launched by the massive Neuroi. Once they were finished, they flew up to Allison and Jaden and snapped their fingers. Every charge detonated simultaneously, leaving behind nothing of the Neuroi.

"That's how it's done," the two Lucchinis said with a high five.

"Lookie, Francesca, our spawn are competing!" Shirley whispered to her Romagnan wingman.

"Should we, Shirley?"

"We should."

"Let's go!" Francesca took off toward the younger fighters. As soon as she caught up to them she said, "Wanna see something real showy?"

Lucy and Leo's eyes lit up, though Allison and Jaden were skeptical.

"Hehe, watch this!"

Shirley flew out in front of them, flared up her Ultimate Speed Aura, and raised her hands toward the scores of Neuroi. "**Speed Force!**" All at once, nearly one thousand small to medium sized Neuroi, as well as several large, super large, and even one colossal type Neuroi, suddenly and rapidly increased their speed, but they left behind red glints.

"Did you just...?" Allison muttered.

"I forcibly sped up every part of those Neuroi, except their cores.

"I'm counting one thousand three hundred and thirty seven Neuroi cores lying outside of their bodies," Johan reported over the radio. "What just happened?"

"Shirley Yeager just happened," Jaden replied.

"Now it's my turn!" Francesca cheered. She activated her own intense aura of solar power. "This is the pinnacle of Sunlight Magic, the Ultimate Solar Aura!"

"So are you going to use your Explosion Strike Ultimate with the Fragmentation augment?" Lucy asked.

"No," Francesca said just before she sped off toward the mass of Neuroi cores. They were spread out in a spherical space roughly three kilometers in diameter. Once she reached the center of the mass, she flung her arms to out to either side and her fiery aura of solar power flared outward at an incredible speed. "**Solar Storm!**"

Every Neuroi core ripped out from its host by Shirley was instantly incinerated, the bodies belonging to those cores shattered, and even some outliers that entered the spherical airspace where burned to ash. Francesca temporarily created what appeared to be a miniature sun.

"Whoa..." the four descendants said in unison, shortly before several others called over the radio asking what just happened.

Even the commanders from other units were asking about the three kilometer wide ball of fire visible from anywhere on the battlefield.

Francesca flew up to Shirley and the two shared a high five.

"That was one hell of a combo move," Allison commented, still in awe.

"Grandma Franny, I knew you were powerful, but..." Leo mumbled.

"Just how strong _are_ the Strike Witches?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, seriously," Jaden added.

* * *

Shortly after Valterri agreed with Lion to exchange two witches, Tori and Aina arrived at the 511th Europe front and joined up with their brothers.

The 511th Battle Commander, Rosalie Barkhorn, took charge and led a group of her teammates into battle.

Unlike their great grandmother and accomplished sniper of the 501st, Lynette Bishop, the Bishops of the younger generation mostly used assault rifles, though each did carry an AMMP rifle on their backs, which was the sniper rifle that Lynne used throughout most of the Third Neuroi War in the alternate future.

Caitlyn Bishop carried a specialized light machine gun of her own creation. It was capable of single fire, three round burst, and full automatic fire and was belt fed from a large backpack. Caitlyn's younger sister, Diana, and her younger cousin, James, used three round burst rifles with extended one hundred fifty round drums. The extra weight was no hindrance to any of them.

"**Burst Shot!**" Diana and James stuck mostly to taking out large type Neuroi. Using the three round burst version of the Power Shot, they fired bursts of three rounds imbued with magic at large type Neuroi. Each round dug deeper into the Neuroi's body, with the second or third destroying the core inside.

While Diana and James focused on large types, Caitlyn focused on taking out masses of smaller Neuroi that were easily destroy with one magic imbued shot each.

"**Ballistic Barrage.**" Constantly imbuing her shots with magic, Caitlyn fired a spray of shots into the mass of Neuroi. Using her Ballistic Magic to control the trajectory of each shot, she missed no target. The weakness of that technique was that it requires so much magic usage and immense concentration, that she couldn't protect herself, so she had to pause every few seconds to play defense.

Seeing how effective Caitlyn's new technique was, Rosalie Barkhorn and Charles Clostermann decided to defend the Gun Spell prodigy, allowing her relentless assault.

"Jeez, Cate, how many rounds do you have on that belt?" Rosalie asked after estimating over five hundred shots were fired.

"About twenty five hundred," she answered in between sprays. "I would have made a five thousand round belt, but I can only manage twenty five hundred before I get low on magic."

"Hell, that's like firing twenty five hundred Reppuzans or Zauberschlags," Charles commented. "That's one hell of a technique you invented."

"Tell me about it. Diana and James won't shut up, asking me to teach it to them."

"I bet," Rosalie said. "Incoming. Cigar shaped super-large type. Charles?"

"I got this," he said. "**Plusieurs Tonnerre!**" He held his hand toward the Neuroi and struck it with a powerful lightning bolt that, after the initial strike, split off into several bolts and created a barrier of lightning around the entire Neuroi. The heat from the lightning was so great that it burned the Neuroi's body away until only the five cores were left. He then struck each core with lightning from the barrier.

"Hey, I recognize that!" Rosalie said. "You just mimicked something from the Railgun anime. Yeah, Mikoto Misaka did that to the AIM Burst creature in episode twelve of the first season!"

"Oh, really?" Charles asked. "I don't watch much anime, so I wouldn't know, but I have a feeling that's where the technique came from. Louise taught that to me, and I know her subordinates in the 511th Fuso Sector are crazy about that show. They probably got her to watch it with them."

"I've seen it, too. That Misaka can do some pretty crazy stuff with her electrical powers."

"Hmm, I might have to watch it. Might get some good ideas from it."

"I recommend it," Rosalie said. "Heads up! More Neuroi incoming. Five humanoids." Rosalie charged up to the closest one and slammed it with her fist. "**Trümmerschlag!**" She completely annihilated the first Neuroi in her path and proceeded on to the rest, taking out two with a single super strength influenced roundhouse kick, and the remaining two with the Todesschlag technique back to back.

"And another," Caitlyn said. "We have a colossal Neuroi launching drones at us."

"Scratch that, we have three colossal Neuroi launching drones at us," James said as he and Diana joined the group. "We can't focus on the colossal Neuroi with this many drones around."

"Let us help," Valterri called to them over the radio as he and six others were flying toward them. With him were Vitaliy, Sasha, Tori, and Aina, as well as their ancestors, Sanya and Eila.

"Well the whole group is here," Rosalie commented.

"All of you, split up the colossal Neuroi amongst yourselves in three groups," Sanya said. "Eila and I will handle all of the drones."

"All of them?" Valterri asked.

"That's kind of crazy, even for you two," Sasha added. "Those three Super Carriers are each launching at least one hundred every five seconds!"

"We can do it," Eila said as she and Sanya joined hands and flared up their auras.

"That's ultimate aura level..." Aina gasped.

As she activated her magic, Sanya's antenna turned red, then darker until black. She held her free hand out toward the mass of Neuroi drones. She released a wave of magic that expanded to roughly ten meters in all directions, forming what appeared to be a barrier. She then forced a pulse of magic outward from the barrier that traveled at a speed beyond what the eye could measure. Only Sasha, and Tori could sense it using their Magic Antenna.

"Did you just release a wave of radiation?" Tori asked.

"Magic radiation," Sanya told them. "Using the highest form of Radar Magic, which I call Spectroscopic Radar, I can sense all forms of electromagnetic radiation, not just radio waves. Using my magic, I can not only detect all types of radiation, but control them to a high degree."

"Since visible light is a type of electromagnetic radiation, can you make illusions?" Sasha asked.

"No, but I can blind anything that detects visible light, such as the human eye does," Sanya explained.

"What about sound waves?" Aina asked.

"Sound is a mechanical wave that requires a medium, not EMR waves," Valterri said.

"That's right," Sanya said. "With my magic, I basically can make you invisible to the Neuroi, but I cannot stop them from hearing you."

"We can sneak past the mass of drones then," Rosalie deducted.

"Exactly."

"Alright then," Valterri began. "I want Caitlyn, James, and Diana in one team; Rosalie, Charles, and myself in another; and Vitaliy, Sasha, Tori, and Aina in the third. That makes one team per Neuroi. What about you, Grandma Eila?"

"I'm using something more powerful than our ultimate ability, Influence," Eila answered as she closed her eyes. "Just like how Sanya can only use Spectroscopic Radar with her Ultimate Magic Aura, I can also do something at that level. I call it Sovereign Prophecy. I can do more than just _influence_ the future I see with Foresight. With this, I can _rewrite_ it."

"That has got to have some limitations," Valterri said.

"Yes, it does. I can't meddle with anything more powerful than myself, and the more powerful the target of my rewrite, the more difficult. You need to go now, my magic will take effect soon. You need to be at your target before the future I'm writing takes place. You'll have about a sixty second window where the Neuroi will ignore you even while you fight them."

"Couldn't you have done this from the beginning and save Sanya the trouble?" Rosalie asked.

"No," Sanya said. "Eila can't do this twice in a short time. She can give you up to sixty seconds, and then she has to wait ten minutes before her magic stabilizes enough to repeat it. This goes for me as well. I can't maintain my Spectroscopic Radar for very much longer, so you need to go! I can only give you another thirty seconds, then Eila's magic will take over."

"Roger that," Valterri said. "We can have further explanations about it later if need be. Let's go!"

"Roger!" each responded quickly before taking off toward their targets.

Each team split up and headed toward their targets. The hundreds of drones they passed by didn't notice they were there. As soon as they arrived at their targets, the three teams opened up on them, earning them the attention of the several hundred drones, not by visible light or radar detection, but by the sound of their gunfire and magical discharges.

As the three teams barraged the three colossal Neuroi, the three Neuroi began firing on their own drones. By the time the three teams finished off the three colossal Neuroi, the colossal Neuroi had finished off the drones, leaving a wide open space devoid of Neuroi.

"Well that worked like a charm," James commented.

"They really are legends," Charles commented.

"Yeah. The Legendary Strike Witches, and they are only two of them."

Eila gave Sanya a smile, who then gave Eila a quick peek on the cheek. "Good job, Eila."

"You too, Sanya."

* * *

The battle heated up at every point. Each group was pulling out all the stops to put away as many Neuroi as they could. Of the sixty thousand Neuroi, a collective estimate was that the Witch Forces had destroyed roughly eight thousand in the first half hour.

At that half hour mark, Doran and Michelle made a judgment call. Believing that enough Neuroi were taken down so that the various groups could stand their ground more easily, they called the four infiltrators to the southern tip.


	35. Chapter 35: Usque ad Finem

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 35: Usque ad Finem**

**Chapter Quote: "To the Very End."**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

The battle heated up at every point. Each group was pulling out all the stops to put away as many Neuroi as they could. Of the sixty thousand Neuroi, a collective estimate was that the Witch Forces had destroyed roughly eight thousand in the first half hour.

At that half hour mark, Doran and Michelle made a judgment call. Believing that enough Neuroi were taken down so that the various groups could stand their ground more easily, they called the four infiltrators to the southern tip.

"Shouldn't we wait for Shadow to come and get us in stealthily?" Aya asked.

"We can't," Doran said. "She's neck deep in Neuroi right now. If we call anyone else away, the Neuroi will gain a foothold that we don't want them to gain."

"It's fine anyway," Michelle added. "The five of us can get you in."

"Five?" Toshiro asked. "There's only you and Michelle."

Doran pointed toward the hive, where several bolts of lightning were clearly visible underneath. "Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael are still fighting. Michelle and I have a plan where the five of us will clear a path for you to fly in."

"What about teleporting?" Aya asked. "Yoshika and Kye can use their rainbow magic to do that."

Yoshika nodded, "It's possible."

"Not a good idea," Michelle said. "You could teleport into an ambush. If you fly in, you can at least see where you're going beforehand."

"I say we just go with their idea," Toshiro said. "There's no point in speculating now. Tearing through the Neuroi always worked before."

"Right," Doran said. "Let's get going."

Before they could, Kye flew up to Doran and kissed him. "Thank you for helping in this simulation. Without you and the others, we would never have gotten this far." She was quickly overcome with intense pain for a few moments after she stopped speaking.

Doran smiled. "Of course. I couldn't just let two worlds get destroyed, now could I?"

"Couldn't you and Michelle have just beat Mavet before all this?" Toshiro asked.

"Our knowledge of what would happen either way was withheld. We took a gamble on which future would be better, and we lost. That's part of why we're here helping like this. Anyway, let's go." Doran flared up his blue flames and took off toward the action, followed closely by Michelle and the infiltrators.

They passed by the 511th Fuso group on their way in. As Doran and the others closed in, Danielle, Elizabeth, and Michael were already prepared to clear them a path.

"**Dragon Soul!**" Elizabeth called out just before she, Michael, and Danielle activated their own powerful auras. Her aura was dark blue and with sparking lightning. "By my power as the Dragon Goddess Raiza, I call forth the Lightning of the Dragon Gods!" The lightning sparking around inside her aura became more intense she prepared her attack.

"**Dragonwrath!**" She held out her right hand with only her index and middle fingers extended, and from those fingers launched the most powerful bolt of lightning that Yoshika, Toshiro, and Aya had ever seen. Every Neuroi within one hundred meters of the ten kilometer long bolt of dark blue colored lightning was razed.

Using the free path, Danielle and Michael led Doran, Michelle, and the infiltration team through as far as they could. Once they reached the end of the ten kilometer long path, Michael prepared to open up a further path. His aura was light green with chunks of rock floating inside.

"By my power as the Dragon God Gaijus, I call forth the Earth of the Dragon Gods!" he shouted as he prepared his attack. He held both hands forward, and as he concentrated his power, the chunks of rock floating inside his aura flew forward and coalesced into a mass that quickly grew in size, forming a large boulder glowing in the same light green energy as Michael's aura. When he finished building up the boulder, which ended up being roughly fifty meters in diameter, he flew up to it and slammed it when his right palm, launching it forward at an incredible speed.

"**Dragonstar!**" The boulder flew ten kilometers forward into the Neuroi masses before it finally fell apart. It cleared the same ten kilometer long, one hundred meter wide area that Elizabeth's Dragonwrath had.

Michael waved at the group as Danielle lead them further in toward the center of the massive hive.

"Anyone have a measure on how big this hive is?" Toshiro asked. "It's gotta be a few hundred kilometers wide."

"It's about four hundred kilometers in diameter," Michelle answered. "The orb looking thing in the center is about one hundred kilometers wide, so that leaves about one fifty on either side of it to the edge. We managed to clear about twenty kilometers in with the 511th Fuso team before we called you here, and Elizabeth and Michael both got us another twenty kilometers in, so we're sitting at about one-ten to go."

"I'll get you another ten at least," Danielle added. Her aura was light blue with thin streams of water floating around inside.

"The closer we can get, the better," Aya said.

"Just be prepared to stop and take out any colossal Neuroi that get in our way. So far, we've been lucky. Most of them have been distracted by the rest of our forces, but there's gonna be one or two between here and the center."

"Roger that, Dani," Michelle said.

"Alright, I'm going to prepare my attack now," Danielle said as they approached the end of the cleared line. "By my power as the Dragon Goddess Valeria, I call forth the Water of the Dragon Gods!" The streams of water inside her aura floated outside, but still glowed with her power. They grew in size and number until there were five steams, each two kilometers in length. Once they were out of cleared path, Danielle initiated her attack.

"**Dragonfrost!**" She waved her right hand forward, sending her five streams of water forward. The streams formed a line of water ten kilometers long. She brought her left hand forward and acted as if she held a ball between her hands. She pulled her hands apart, causing the ten kilometer long stream of water to spread outward to roughly one hundred meters wide. She then threw both hands forward, as if throwing an invisible ball, causing the water to instantly freeze. She then pulled her hands apart and broke up the mass of ice. Any Neuroi caught inside was frozen and shattered. "Go!"

Wasting no time, Doran and Michelle lead the infiltration group forward.

"So what sort of dragon technique are you two going to use?" Toshiro asked.

"We're not," Doran said.

"Then how are we getting further?" Aya asked.

"Doran and I are basically going to turn the six of us into a giant fireball," Michelle answered. "I guess I should get ready."

"You're usually more proactive than this," Doran said.

"I still have that post-sex high from this morning," Michelle said. "Anyway, since you're already using Dragon Soul..." before finishing her sentence, a white aura of power with winds blowing inside formed around her body.

"By your power as the Dragon Goddess... something..." Toshiro said with a mocking tone.

"Oh, mine is Dragon Goddess Jalara," Michelle said.

"And mine is Dragon God Daelron," Doran added. "But we're not using our Dragon Soul attacks." As the group neared the end of the path cleared by Danielle, Doran threw his arms outward and formed a large barrier of blue flames around the group, effectively turning them into a flaming shooting star. "We're just burning through the rest."

"We needed the others to get us this far, because we can't keep this up for very long with our power limited to this world's standards," Michelle explained as she threw her arms outward, blowing an intense wind into the fire and strengthening it. "Doran ignites the fire, and I fan the fire."

"We have about thirty seconds of this, so we have to fly as fast as possible to reach the center," Doran continued. "We can only fly about Mach 10 while maintaining this fireball, but that's plenty of time."

"Let's kick it up a notch then," Toshiro said as he and the others sped up.

As they approached the center of the hive's underside, the group spotted a colossal Neuroi ahead. Toshiro glanced to Aya, who returned a nod. The two formed a ball of celestial energy and threw them at the giant Neuroi. Yoshika and Kye followed up with the same attack, but with rainbow energy. The four balls hit the Neuroi simultaneously in different areas and completely vaporized the monster in the resulting explosions just in time for the group to safely pass through where it had been.

The group soon reached the center of the hive's underside, which had a giant upside down armored dome.

"Alright, you're on your own from here," Doran said. "You shouldn't have any problems breaking in from here. Good luck."

"What about you two?" Yoshika asked.

"Doran and I can teleport out," Michelle said.

"How many types of magic do you guys have?"

"Remember, we're not a witch and wizard from your world," Michelle pointed out. "In our world, one can learn many types of magic. Disregarding our Elder God powers, we mastered teleportation as mortals. We can clear about one hundred kilometers per teleport with the limitation in this world."

"I see. Well, thanks for getting us in," Yoshika said. "We'll take care of things from here."

Kye suddenly launched a rainbow colored Reppuzan at the armored dome, opening a hole large enough to fly through.

"That's our cue," Toshiro said. "Later, guys."

Doran and Michelle held hands and vanished, leaving the four infiltrators to begin their mission.

* * *

As soon as they entered, Kye and Yoshika both activated their Seinarugan eyes, while Toshiro and Aya activated their Celestial eyes. With their eyes, they could see the energy emitted by every Neuroi core, especially the giant hive core.

The inside of the hive looked much like a three dimensional labyrinth, though the four were able to see it as if viewing a cut-out. Kye quickly plotted a course and started leading the group through.

As they rounded the first corner, a swarm of humanoid Neuroi were waiting for them. Aya took the initiative and launched a massive, monochromatic Reppuzan at them. Many of them were vaporized by the attack with the others not taking a direct hit being left heavily damaged. Aya quickly finished them off with simple melee strikes, and the group continued forward.

Their next few turns were empty. After several more turns - some right, some left, some up, some down - and several Neuroi in between, the group found themselves in a large empty spherical room with black walls.

In the center of the room waited a human girl, appearing roughly twenty years old. Similar to Maeve, she wore simple clothing consisting of a long sleeved black shirt, black jeans, and black shoes. Her jet black waist length hair was tied up in twin tails with dark red ribbons. A few stray bangs hung down in her face, but none covered her dark red eyes.

"I take it you are Maia," Toshiro said.

"That's right," the girl said. "I am the champion of my father, Lord Mavet."

"Then I will be your opponent."

Another woman suddenly appeared next to Maia, one Toshiro and Kye recognized as Maeve.

"Hello, Mother," Maia greeted her.

"Lord Mavet recommends that you battle two of them and send the other two on to him," Maeve said.

"If that is what Father wants. With the difference in our power, two on one should be fair."

Maeve acknowledged Maia's acceptance of the order and turned to Kye. "It is good to see you again, Lady Kye. I look forward to another battle, though unfortunately I will be wielded by Lord Mavet this time."

"Enough small talk," Toshiro shouted. "Let's get on with this."

"So be it, Champion," Maeve said. "Two of you will stay here and fight while the other two will seek out Lord Mavet. We will be waiting." Maeve vanished.

"Please pick your second, Toshiro," Maia said. "I'm not fond of being here in the first place, so I would like to get this over with."

"I will fight," Aya said without a second thought.

"Good. Good luck to both of you. While I do not support this pointless war simulation or the reason behind the conflict, I will obey my father's wishes and fight for him. I apologize, but I cannot go easy on you. Please give it your all."

"I'm so used to fighting the Neuroi in my world..." Toshiro said. "It's a weird change to fight enemies that have honor. I'm not sure what to think about that. Either way, it's time to fight. Yoshika, Kye, go on!"

The two nodded at him and flew past Maia, through the exit on the other side of the enormous room.

"**Awaken!**" Toshiro and Aya said simultaneously. They flared their auras up to full power.

Maia summoned her blade, a simple dark red and black longsword. Hebrew markings representing the word "Cataclysm" were engraved on the blade close to the guard.

"**Awaken,**" she said before firing up her own aura of chaotic power and activating her own Celestial Eye. Her eye was slightly different from Toshiro and Aya's, where their eye had white stars and their pupils glowed white, Maia's stars and pupil glow was dark red.

* * *

After leaving Toshiro and Aya to their fight with Maia, the two remaining infiltrators carried on. Yoshika and Kye moved faster than before, quickly destroying any Neuroi swarms they came across.

At the final leg of the labyrinth, the two encountered an unusually strong humanoid Neuroi.

"You have done well to come this far, Champions," the Neuroi said. "However, I cannot allow you to continue. By the order of Lord Mavet, I will eliminate you."

Kye materialized Jouten's sheath, placed it at her left hip, and sheathed the sword.

"Your actions make no sense, Champion."

"**Senkou Suto.**" Kye jumped forward, drew Jouten, and slashed the Neuroi in two, all in a split second. The Neuroi shattered, its core destroyed.

Behind the Neuroi stood a large set of black double doors, the same color as the rest of the hive's insides. Yoshika and Kye exchanged glances and each pushed open one of the doors. They found the enormous hive core chamber on the other side. It was spherical in shape and easily stretched fifty kilometers in diameter. The core itself was no smaller than half the size of the chamber it lied. A circular platform hugged the core roughly one quarter of the way up from its bottom and was connected to the door by a wide walkway.

Yoshika and Kye spotted a human man standing near the core and teleported toward him. The two reappeared a short distance from him. The man wore a hooded cloak and black clothing underneath.

"Welcome, Lady Kye and Champion Yoshika," the man greeted without turning around. He held his right hand up as if grasping for the giant core. "It's beautiful, isn't it? This object is a true embodiment of evil and a strong representation of chaos. Tell me, what do you think I am? Good? Evil? A bastard, perhaps?"

"I'm going to go with evil," Yoshika said without hesitation.

"Your perspective deems me evil," he echoed. "That's not surprising, really. To the inhabitants of your and Toshiro's worlds, that statement is true." He turned around and removed his hood, revealing his face, appearing no more than a twenty year old young man. His short spiky black hair reached just above his shoulders. "I must ask, though, despite the rhetoricalness of the question. Would you still label me as evil if you lived in one of the universes I have created? They are paradises. I am the embodiment of chaos in the Omniverse, yet my worlds live in peace and harmony. It's quite the contradiction. Here I am, willing to destroy the trillions of lives that inhabit your two universes, yet I grant peaceful lives to so many more in my own worlds."

"That only worsens my opinion of you. I would add psychotic to that evil."

"I suppose you would. What about you, Lady Kye? If you'll allow it, I will numb your pain if you speak."

"I see you as nothing more than an enemy threatening the existence of three worlds."

"Oh yes, there is that third world with the blue human-esque people. You know it's quite humorous. They believe humans to be ugly, yet humans believe them to be beautiful, at least the humans that have crossed paths with them. I'm afraid my own opinion of them is neutral. If there is one thing I take pride in, that would be the appearance of my consort."

Maeve appeared next to him, and he wrapped his right arm around her shoulders.

"And she knows it very well, my spoiled love. She even pleased me when our daughter was born. Maia turned out just as beautiful as her mother, and truth be told I would have trouble telling them apart by looks alone if not for their choice in hairstyle. I am blessed in many ways, one could say, but there is still one thing that escapes my grasp."

Maeve transformed into her weapon form, the greatsword Armageddon.

Mavet continued, "Adam will answer to me." He held Armageddon toward Yoshika and Kye and gestured at them. "During this battle, I will be restricted to mortal levels of your world's standards. Although, even at that, my power is still far greater than that which the two of you possess. You had a fifty percent chance of victory, yet even if the two of you, Toshiro, and Aya were to fight me simultaneously, you would lose. You chose the wrong method to confront me. However, I know that despite my words, you will still try, so go ahead. Let's begin."

Yoshika turned to Kye and whispered in her ear, "Get the core," before jumping toward Mavet. "**Awaken!**" She poured magic into her blade and quickly discharged it at her opponent, speaking the full name of her technique, "**True Zen Reppuzan!**" Empowered by the full name, the rainbow colored Reppuzan launched from Yoshika's blade with immense pressure.

Despite its power, Mavet had no trouble with redirecting the super powered Reppuzan. He responded with a similar attack, though his was black and riddled with what appeared to be dark red colored stars inside.

Sensing how powerful the blast was, Yoshika teleported out of the way. As she did, Kye launched a series of Reppuzans at the hive core, dealing a moderate amount of damage, though she was caught and kicked away by Mavet before she could do any real damage.

"Not a bad idea, but destroying this core is something I don't want you to do," Mavet said. "I'm afraid you'll have to focus your efforts on me."

As he spoke, Yoshika launched several Sacred Arrows at the core from a different angle, but that only proved to annoy Mavet.

"Okay, fine, if you want this thing out of the way, then I'll remedy the issue," Mavet said. "In fact, why don't we just go ahead and clear the entire battlefield, inside and out."

He generated a powerful barrier to block Yoshika's attacks before teleporting back to his original spot near the core. He walked up to the core, placed his hand on it, and the core vanished, surprising both of his opponents. The hive soon disappeared, allowing them to receive radio transmissions from the other forces. Every Neuroi in the area stopped moving, though they did not shatter.

"What happened, did you win?" Yami asked while attempting to silence the cheers form everyone else.

"Not quite," Yoshika replied.

"Soon, we will have the entire sky to ourselves," Mavet said. "Well, we will have to share it with Toshiro, Aya, and Maia, but I can live with that."

Every Neuroi simultaneously shattered, and their white fragments gathered toward Mavet. He absorbed all of the nearly fifty thousand remaining Neuroi.

"What the hell...?" Minna asked as she and the other Strike Witches began flying toward where Kye, Yoshika, and Mavet were floating.

"Much better," Mavet said before teleporting up to a suborbital altitude. He held his free hand downward and discharged a Neuroi beam far beyond what any of the battle participants could have imagined. The beam reached over one thousand kilometers in diameter and launched downward at a tremendous speed.

Most of the Witch Forces could not even react to Mavet's overwhelming attack. Some managed to erect shields, though most of them proved futile against the immense beam. Some were able to act quickly enough to combine their power and project a shield strong enough to protect them, though at the expense of all their remaining magic power.

The beam killed most of the Witch Forces and dug a one thousand kilometer wide, several kilometer deep hole in the ground.

After the beam dissipated, the survivors looked around to see who all had survived. Yami, Yuko, and Hiro managed to survive by pooling their power into a powerful shield. Zen, Ren, Kenji, Aero, and Aira managed to survive by the same method. Liliana and Shadow survived due to Shadow shrouding the two in her shadow magic to completely avoid the massive beam.

Yoshika had teleported to where Yusu, Kaylie, and Layla were and generated a powerful shield with their help to protect them. Toshiro chose to protect Xala, who had approached him just before Mavet fired the beam. Aya was already near Toshiro, and Kye teleported to them. Together the four pooled their power to erect a shield powerful enough to protect them.

In the split second that Mavet fired the beam, the Maya group teleported around to gather the already approaching Strike Witches, including Kamiko. They teleported them to the center of the battlefield and erected a powerful shield of elemental energy known as the Helix Barrier.

Yami, Yuko, Hiro, Zen, Ren, Kenji, Aero, Aira, and the Maya group were all but completely drained after shielding themselves from the massive beam. Those protected by shields generated by Yoshika, Kye, Toshiro, and Aya retained a fair portion of their power. Liliana and Shadow retained nearly all of their power, having avoided the beam to begin with.

Maia, although being hit by the beam, was not harmed by it thanks to Mavet's control of the attack.

The survivors grouped up toward the center and began to discuss what had just happened. Before they could make any meaningful statements, Mavet and Maia approached with the intention to destroy. Seeing this, Shadow enveloped the entire group of thirty five survivors in a shroud of shadow magic, preventing their enemies from touching them.

"Please, talk quickly," Shadow said. "I do not believe I can hold a shroud this large for more than five minutes."

"Five minutes is plenty of time," Yami said. "What just happened?"

"Mavet absorbed every Neuroi out here," Minna said. "The number of hostiles I could sense went from just shy of fifty thousand to two in a matter of seconds."

"That's probably the reason why he was able to fire such an enormous beam," Yami concluded. "I'd be willing to bet that he won't be able to do that again, but despite that... his power is still incredible."

"Aya and I were fighting his champion, Maia," Toshiro added. "The fight was pretty even. I got a glimpse of Mavet's power just before he absorbed all the Neuroi, though. His power is a lot higher than Maia's, easily double or better."

"This isn't looking good," Mio said. "Judging by how much magic power we have left, I'd say we might have enough to beat him, if we could somehow pool it all to one person. But individually, he would take us out too quickly for us to have any sort of chance."

"Pooling our power isn't a bad idea, but one person can't handle all of that power," Zen said. "The Strike Witches have a powerful combination technique, though, right? What if the rest of us give our remaining energy to the lot of you? Would you be able to win?"

"Possibly," Minna said. "We'll have to take all we can get, though, and we'll have to be careful to distribute the power as evenly as possible. The power of the Sturmkraft Brecher is determined by the weakest. The rest of us can only put in as much as the weakest, even if some of us were to be twice as powerful."

"We can do it," Yoshika said as she looked to Kye. "With our True Zen, we can take the energy of our friends and evenly distribute it between all of us."

"I hate to ask this, but Aya and I will need a little boost as well," Toshiro said. "We used up a lot of power to protect ourselves just then, but Maia didn't have to do anything. We won't be able to stand against her without some of our power restored."

"We can handle it," Kye said. "It seems that my power has diminished enough now that I can speak without pain. With that, let's go with this plan. Everyone aside Toshiro, Aya, and the thirteen members of the Strike Witches will give their power to us. Yoshika and I will distribute that power appropriately, making sure to give enough to Toshiro and Aya, and distributing the rest between the thirteen Strike Witches. Once that is done, I will teleport the rest of you away from here. Accounting for that, I will take slightly more power than the rest of us."

"You need all the power you can get!" Yami argued.

"The amount of energy I require to teleport the lot of you is miniscule. It will make no difference in the battle," Kye said adamantly. "You would burn more power flying away than I would teleporting you. Take my word for it. We need to do this now, before Shadow runs out of time."

"I trust you," Yami said.

"Everyone receiving power, join hands. Everyone giving power, stay still," Kye ordered. As everyone followed her direction, she and Yoshika flared up their True Zen beyond their own bodies, and enveloped everyone. They took all the power they could from those able to give it and distributed it between those meant to receive it.

"We're not back to full power, but this is good enough," Minna said. "We can execute the Sturmkraft Brecher and defeat Mavet."

"We need to move fast then," Yoshika said. "I only have three minutes left on my Awakened State."

"Only thirty seconds for us," Toshiro said, speaking for Aya and himself. "But Maia is almost out of Awakened State time, too."

"Get moving," Kye ordered. "Time your attacks right and you can hit her with Awakened State level attacks that land right after her Awakened State wears off."

"Good idea," Toshiro said as he and Aya left Shadow's shroud.

"The rest of you," Kye continued. "Thank you." She waved her hand and teleported all of them away, including Shadow. With Shadow no longer present, the shroud dissipated. "Show no mercy. Use your full power! **Awaken!**"

"**Awaken!**" Rei echoed.

"**Divine Power!**" everyone else shouted.

Mavet saw the group coming, activated the chaos version of the Celestial Eye, and responded in kind, "**Awaken.**"

"Usque ad finem!" Kye shouted. "To the very end!"


	36. Chapter 36: Inanis Victoria

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 36: Inanis Victoria  
**

**Chapter Quote: "Empty Victory"**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

Shortly after Toshiro and Aya seemingly appeared out of thin air and reengaged Maia, the thirteen Strike Witches appeared.

"Show no mercy!" Kye commanded. "Use your full power! **Awaken!**"

"**Awaken!**" Rei echoed.

"**Divine Power!**" everyone else shouted.

Mavet saw the group coming and responded in kind, "**Awaken.**"

"Usque ad finem!" Kye shouted. "To the very end!"

In a fierce combination of attacks, the Strike Witches spread out and began their battle with Mavet.

"**Magic Arrow!**" Eila shouted as she fired a powerful magic imbued arrow at Mavet.

"**Sturmschlag! (Stormstrike!)"** Erica swung her glaive toward Mavet and launched a finely super compressed wind blast.

"**Eye of Destruction!**" Using her Magic Eye as a catalyst, Mio sent an orb of black magic at Mavet.

"**Speed Force!**" Shirley manually loaded a single potent round into the chamber of her rifle and imbued it with a great amount of speed magic before firing. "**Speed Breaker!**"

"**Solar Storm!**" Lucchini held both hands forward and hurled a torrent of solar energy at Mavet.

"**Orage!**" Perrine threw a powerful bolt of lightning toward Mavet, but instead of splitting it off to generate hundreds of lightning bolts, she intended to use the entire force of her spell on him.

"**Ballistic Surge!**" Lynne fired her Shockwave Rifle at Mavet and used the spell she can only perform with the Ultimate Magic Aura, but instead of splitting the shot into multiple projectiles, she imbued it into a single supercharged round.

Mavet grinned as the barrage of magical attacks flew at him. He raised one hand forward, formed a powerful spherical barrier, and took the blasts head on.

As soon as the several attacks hit his barrier, multiple other witches launched close range attacks, each using their own powerful techniques to follow up. The explosion generated by the combined power of the witches' attacks faded by the time the next round of attackers were within range.

"**Spectroscopic Radar!**" Sanya took control of the electromagnetic radiation waves, specifically visible light, and blinded Mavet before following with a powerful melee attack to the front of Mavet's barrier. "**Großer Vernichtung!**"

"**Transcendent Strength!**" Trude used her Ultimate Magic Aura to vastly improve her Super Strength before launching her own attack from above. "**Großer Trümmerschlag!**"

"**Absolute Analysis!**" Minna used her Ultimate Magic Aura enhanced Area Analysis to instantly analyze Mavet's power and barrier, as well as the power that Sanya and Trude's attacks carried. Quickly calculating the damage their attacks would do, she found the spot on Mavet's barrier where she needed to attack to deal maximum damage - the lower back. She built up magic in her glaive as she approached and launched it at the target spot at point blank. "**Großer Zauberschlag!**"

* * *

While the Strike Witches began their battle with Mavet, Toshiro and Aya were fighting fiercely against Maia. Maia proved to be both very powerful and very aggressive. Each time they met blades, Toshiro felt as if he was a child trying to hold a sword against an adult that was continuously pushing the child backward.

With Oblivion Lost, Toshiro could block Maia's blows, but was pushed back each time. Even with Aya continually attacking in tandem, Maia continued to gain ground on Toshiro. The chaotic fighter was able to keep the grandfather-granddaughter combo on their toes.

**_"Master, we have ten seconds left!"_**

**_ "Roger that."_**

"Aya!" Toshiro called out. "Do it now!"

"Do what?" Maia asked without missing a beat in combat.

Aya quickly formed and threw two orbs of celestial magic toward Toshiro and Maia. Toshiro stayed until the last second, teleporting away just before they detonated.

**_"Five seconds!"_**

"**Celestial Reppuzan!**" the two Celestial Order champions shouted in unison as they fired enormous black waves of magic that glowed white and were littered with stars inside, empowered by the full name of the technique.

Livy and Kari cut off their Awakened States when the massive Reppuzans were about halfway to their target. With Maia's Awakened State being forcibly cut off at the same time, she couldn't properly defend against the super powered attack.

As the light from the attacks cleared, Maia was shown to be in bad shape. Her clothes were in tatters and the bands holding her twin tails together had disintegrated, letting her hair fall free. Her shirt was torn and singed, only the lower portion of her sleeves were left, and the wrapping that tied down her breasts was partially visible. Her pants were torn so badly that nothing was left of either leg, and only a few scraps held together around her pelvis, showing much of her black underwear. She had several burns all over her body. Despite that, her eyes and expression were calm.

"Well done, Champions," Maia said. "That was clever use of the mortal Awakened State timer." She tore off what was left of her tattered sleeves, shirt, and pants, burning them with chaotic fire as she threw each piece away. Only her breast binding, underwear, and shoes remained. "I hope this sight of me won't hinder you."

Toshiro immediately noticed Maia's muscles. While not overbearing, they were very well sculpted and complimented her figure well. Aya sighed as he eyed her body. "Grandpa..."

"What? I'm a guy."

Maia smirked. "Turned on, are we?"

"At first, I had the intention of fucking you up with my sword..." he said, "but now I have a different method in mind."

"Grandpa!" Aya shouted at him.

Maia floated over toward him slowly. "That _would_ be more fun than this battle. Are you good? We could mutually benefit from such an arrangement. What do you say?"

"Well now that you put it that way... I think-" Toshiro began but was interrupted.

"I think we are in the middle of a battle!" Aya argued. "We cannot win this simulation without defeating her!"

Toshiro sighed and said, "The rules are complete domination."

_ "It's a good thing I've used a lot of power, otherwise I'd be hurting from the complete mastery penalty."_

_ "Toshiro! You can't be serious? Are you really wanting to get this girl in bed?"_

_ "Kind of. Look at her body! Hell, if we win and the others beat Mavet, I could piss him off by fucking his daughter!"_

_ "If that's the only reason-"_

_ "It's not like it'll happen, though. I have a feeling she's as big a tease as the redheads."_

_ "Heh..."_

"That's too bad. I'm kind of turned on now after being looked at with such perverted eyes," she said with genuine disappointment. "Tell you what, Toshiro, beat me and we'll talk."

"And if you win?" Toshiro asked.

"If I win, then I'll take you as my sex slave," she said with a glint in her eyes. "I'll take Aya, too."

"Leave her out of it!"

"Hey, if I win, I'm going to go help my father with your friends, and that'll mean that we win the war. If we win the war, then that means your world goes bye bye, so if I take her, she doesn't get erased."

"That's assuming you win."

"Assuming. Hell, if you are good sports about it, I might even nab up that boyfriend of hers and let them stay together."

"What about me and Yoshika?"

"If I let her have her boyfriend but leave behind your significant other that would be unfair to you. However, I don't like sharing."

"My Yoshika is bi."

"Hmm..." Maia mused. She gripped her blade and charged toward Toshiro. He blocked her attack, but she didn't push at him. "How about that deal? If you win, you can have me in bed a few times... say five? Heh, an argument could be made for more if I like it. If I win, then I get you and Aya as sex slaves, and I might even throw in your lovers."

Toshiro shrugged. "What the hell, why not? If I beat you, I get an extra reward. If you win, my world gets destroyed, so I guess being a sex slave wouldn't be that bad."

"I suppose there's always good in the bad..." Aya said reluctantly. "Being a sex slave is better than being erased from existence with no afterlife."

"Then it's a deal," Maia said as she changed her tactics and attacked Aya, who managed to block the massive blow. "I've never done it with another girl before. I have incentive to win now!"

_ "Yuki, I don't even know what to think about this development."_

_ "Hell, if our world gets destroyed, it'll be like going to heaven for you. You're a ravenous beast anyway."_

_ "Rawr."_

* * *

Sanya, Trude, and Minna hit Mavet's barrier simultaneously with their most powerful attacks in just the right places to deal maximum damage. The power from their attacks shattered Mavet's barrier, leaving him open to the next round.

"**Dance of Death,**" Rei said quietly as she started the final round. She greatly empowered her blades with light magic to improve the potency of her technique.

With Mavet's barrier down, he was forced to counterattack, but with each swing, Rei gracefully dodged. She moved to his left, slashing his arm with her left blade. In fluid motion, she spun clockwise as she moved around behind him, bringing her right blade across his back. Mavet brought Armageddon around clockwise, but Rei dodged downward and continued her offensive with her left blade, slashing his right side.

Mavet attempted a downward slash at Rei, but she spun clockwise while her body was perpendicular to Mavet and push his blade back toward him with her right hand blade, causing him to skin the outside of his own right leg.

As Rei's clockwise spin turned her upside down, she simultaneously flipped backward and brought her left hand blade up behind her, slashing across Mavet's chest. This left her right side up and facing away from her target. She continued to dance around him, twisting so that she could strike him again with her right hand blade, but as she swung her right blade across Mavet's chest, she poured magic into the attack and hit him with the finishing blow. "**Death's Dance: Grand Finale.**"

The force of Rei's final strike tore a deep wound in Mavet's chest. As Rei finished her follow through, she jumped away just in time for Yoshika and Kye to join in. They charged toward Mavet from opposite directions.

"**Senkou Suto!**" both shouted as they simultaneously vanished, reappearing a short distance away, each on the opposite side they started. Kye's attack cut clean through Mavet's abdomen, separating his legs from his torso. Yoshika's attack cut cleanly and separated Mavet's right arm, right shoulder, and neck from his torso.

Blood sprayed out of Mavet's wounds, but his dark aura of chaotic power did not cease. His body's parts soon started to move back toward each other and were burned together with his power. Just as Celestial Order also granted its user Orderly Creation and Orderly Destruction, Celestial Chaos granted its users Chaotic Creation and Chaotic Destruction, which indirectly granted him powerful healing abilities through his creation abilities. Mavet's wounds healed quickly, though they appeared ragged and singed under the healing effect of his chaotic power. He popped his neck both ways as he made sure everything reconnected properly.

Before the witches could launch any more attacks, Mavet dropped Armageddon, which floated in place, and thrust his arms outward, launching a wave of chaotic power that threw the witches backward several hundred meters in several directions.

Before the witches could recover from the knockback, Mavet launched another wave of chaotic power. However, the witches were thrown far enough away by the first that they managed to recover and avoid the second wave before it caught up to them.

"Now's the time, Ladies!" Minna called out as she launched a beam of blue magic at Mavet from her right hand. As she did that, so did the other twelve Strike Witches.

Mavet attempted to raise another barrier, but he couldn't materialize a strong one quickly enough. The thirteen beams broke through the weak barrier and immobilized Mavet.

"This is it," Kye said. "Whether this works or not, the battle ends with this attack. Is everyone ready?"

"Yes," everyone resounded.

"On three. One... Two..."

"**Sturmkraft Brecher!**" called the voices of all thirteen Strike Witches. The witches poured the full force of their magic into their beams. The beams widened as the immense magic power closed in on Mavet from thirteen directions.

The thirteen beams collapsed upon Mavet and resulted in a blinding magical explosion. Several long seconds passed before the witches could see through the cloud of magic fallout. Nothing remained where Mavet had been. The witches flew in to that central point.

* * *

With newfound incentive to fight, despite the perverted nature of it, Toshiro, Aya, and Maia resumed their fight. Blow after powerful blow, the trio shook the very sky.

When Maia blocked a blow from Toshiro, Aya discharged a powerful wave of celestial magic from her blade. Maia sensed it coming and managed to dodge it, but that left her open for a split second.

Taking advantage, Toshiro jabbed her gut and knocked the wind out of her. As if by instinct, Maia countered with a wide swing of her blade that would have cut off Toshiro's head had Aya not blocked it with her own sword.

**_"Livy, hand to hand mode!"_**

**_ "Yes, Master!"_**

Oblivion Lost disappeared and she formed into two rings on Toshiro's biceps. Toshiro hit Maia with an open palm strike, followed quickly by a left jab to her ribs. Maia took the full brunt of the open palm strike, but was able to defend against the left jab.

Maia countered with a strong kick to Toshiro chest, knocking him a fair distance way, then following up with a massive discharge of chaotic celestial magic from her sword aimed at Aya and a chaotic orb aimed at Toshiro.

With both of her opponents temporarily occupied, Maia took a moment to catch her breath. She didn't have long before she was forced on the defensive again.

"**Himmlischer Zauberstrahl!**" Toshiro shouted as he fired a beam of celestial magic at Maia. She was able to block it without any problems, but she didn't see Aya's attack coming.

"**Celestial Arrow!**" Aya had already asked Kari to transform into a bow and was preparing her attack when Toshiro used his beam attack. She released her bowstring and fired the black arrow, glowing white, at Maia. Aya's arrow pierced Maia's chest just above her heart, but before the arrow could explode, Maia pulled it out and blasted it with her own celestial power.

Predicting what was coming next, Maia twisted around and slashed in Toshiro's direction, landing a solid cut across his chest. She pumped a lot of chaotic magic into Toshiro's wound as her sword tore his flesh, leaving him stunned shortly after.

She followed through by attempting to run her blade through his chest, but Aya already began her counter and kicked Cataclysm from Maia's hand. She brought Hikarimaru around, having already asked Kari to revert to katana form, and intended to cut across Maia's midriff to separate her upper and lower halves. Aya dug Hikarimaru into Maia's side, but soon found herself flung outward by a powerful palm strike to her chest.

Maia quickly burned her wounds closed and healed them somewhat before summoning Cataclysm back to her hand. Aya held her free hand to her chest, not sure at first why she was in so much pain, and coughed up blood.

**_"Mistress, you have internal bleeding from that palm strike,"_** Kari told her. **_"Your blood is filling up your lungs. You must use your power to heal yourself now!"_**

Aya quickly did what Kari told her and was able to erase most of the pain, but her internal wound was still clouded with a small amount of Celestial Chaos from Maia's blow, so she couldn't completely heal it. When she looked back to the battlefield, Toshiro was already in another brawl with Maia.

"**Chaos Cremation!**" Maia shouted as she flung both arms upward, generating a massive pillar of chaotic flames. The flames completely obscured both Maia and Toshiro from view, leaving Aya to wonder what would happen.

Aya began to launch a blast of celestial magic at the flames, but she stopped short when she heard Toshiro's voice.

"**Dou! Tetsu! Hagane! Chitan! Sekiei! Ogyoku! Kougyoku! Kongouseki!**" Toshiro struck Maia with the eight hit combo of Kyoukujitsuken, each strike empowered by his mastery of Celestial Order. The flame pillar soon dissipated, revealing a crispy Toshiro and a very bruised Maia.

"**Himmlischer Trümmerschlag!**" Toshiro attempted to follow up with another powerful blow, but Maia grabbed his wrist before he could execute the technique and threw him to the side.

"**Chaos Wave!**" Maia launched a powerful blast of chaotic energy at Toshiro just before feeling an intense, unbearable pain in her back.

"**Himmelsklinge!**" Aya brought down an immensely powerful slash upon Maia's back augmented by her celestial power and simultaneously discharged a blast of celestial power as her blade dug through Maia's flesh.

The result was a very nasty and very large cut across Maia's back. Her breast bindings were cut from the attack and fell from her chest. Blood gushed wildly from the wound.

**_"Combining both functions of the Caelestis Telum technique proved to be very effective, but I'm nearly drained now."_** Aya told Kari.

**_"Be careful, Mistress. Your defensive power is much lower now. If you take a hit, you'll likely be-." _**Kari couldn't finish her sentence before Maia countered.

"**Chaos Blade!**" Maia spun around and landed a deep slash from Aya's left hip to her right shoulder, slashing apart and burning her Striker Flight Suit and leaving the girl stunned from the sheer damage the strike caused.

Aya almost lost consciousness from the sheer amount of blood loss. If not for her mastery of Celestial Order and subconsciously healing herself, she would have likely died from the aftermath of Maia's attack.

Maia, now clothed only by her black underwear, quickly set to work on healing the injury on her back. Aya's SFS unit was completely slashed apart and burned, leaving much of it in tatters. All her clothing from her waist up was gone, and only bits of her leggings were left intact.

Toshiro, after seeing the scene unfold, grew angry and charged back in. He had Livy transform back to sword form, pumped the blade full of celestial magic and thrust his blade through Maia's chest, although she managed a dual counterattack, one with her own blade ran through Toshiro's gut and the other in the form of a chaotic orb that exploded point blank, catch all three in the blast.

As the residual energy of the blast cleared, Maia found herself not only with Toshiro's blade through her chest, but also Aya's. One pierced her heart while the other pierced her right lung. The explosion blasted away what little clothing Aya and Maia had left and singed away most of Toshiro's suit, leaving only enough to cover his privates. All three had severe burns on their bodies from the explosion.

"Damn..." Maia said between coughs. "You still have some clothing left. It's not fair, you know. Aya and I are completely naked. I am defeated, and will soon die and be removed from the simulation. So could you do me a favor?"

Toshiro smirked and disintegrated the rest of his clothing, leaving a smiling Maia. "I look forward to having that. I do hope you will cash in on our deal _soon_." Maia's body disappeared before either Toshiro or Aya could respond.

Toshiro took a deep breath and healed as much of his injuries as possible, just as Aya did for herself. The two soon followed up their healing endeavors with generating new SFS units for themselves using the Orderly Creation component of Celestial Order.

"Grandpa, that was... an exhilarating battle," Aya said, almost lost for words to describe her experience. "And that Maia..." Aya's face turned red. "She's enough to turn me lesbian... well bi."

"Oh really?" Toshiro mused. "Well you also won, and she wanted a piece of you, too. You could cash in on _our_ winnings, too."

"I won't lie... both of us fucking the same person?"

"Kind of weird, but what the hell? She's a gem, and we both earned it!" Toshiro declared with intensity.

"Eh, whatever," Aya said. "My lust is winning over my reason right now."

"That's an Edelweiss for you! Haha!" Toshiro laughed. He turned toward where the others were fighting, but only saw the Strike Witches floating in a circle. Mavet was nowhere to be found. "Do you see that, Aya?"

"Yeah," she said, sounding somewhat melancholy. "We've won."

"You don't sound overly happy about that."

"Disregarding the war portion, I really enjoyed my time here with everyone. I'm glad we won, but I'm not looking forward to what comes after."

Toshiro sighed, but agreed. "Yeah."

Aya took off toward the Strike Witches, followed closely by Toshiro.

* * *

"I don't sense him," Minna said with urgent surprise in her voice.

"Not a trace!" Sanya added, unable to mask her excitement.

Yoshika and Kye traded glances, confirming to each other that they had won.

"We did it, Sanya!" Eila cheered as she flew up to and kissed the Orussian.

"I can't believe it! Francesca, we won!" Shirley cheered.

"Romagna is safe again!" Francesca added excitedly.

"Not just Romagna," Trude said.

"The whole world!" Erica cheered.

"Yoshika!" Lynne said as she flew up to her Fusojin friend. "We've won!"

"Of course we did," Perrine stated.

"The war is over," Yoshika said.

"The war is over," Mio echoed as she exchanged glances with Minna.

"Once again, the Strike Witches have saved the world," Kye said. "And not only one world, but two!"

"Hey, I hope you don't plan on taking all the credit!" Toshiro called out as he and Aya arrived.

"Yeah, we helped!" Aya added. "We not only won our battle, but won some hot nooky, too!"

"W-what?" Trude gasped.

Toshiro pounded his chest and said, "Midway through our battle, Maia made a deal with us. If we won, we get her in bed. If she won, she got us as sex slaves."

"Sex slaves? Isn't that... a bit lopsided of a deal?" Minna asked.

"Well, if she had won, then she would have come to finish off you as well. Given the alternative was go home to a destroyed universe or be sex slaves to a very well built and toned woman..." Toshiro explained.

"Yeah, if she had beat you two, there's no way we could have held out against both of them, or even her by herself after using the Sturmkraft Brecher..."

"Doesn't sound like that bad of a deal when you put it that way, eh?" Toshiro said.

"And of course you won and get to defile the girl," a familiar voice said just before the gods appeared. The other survivors also appeared with them, having reverted to their full power with the simulation over.

"Ami!" Toshiro greeted.

"Well done, my Chosen One."

"Well done, indeed," the godly Kye said as she appeared amongst the others. "With complete domination achieved in favor of the Witch Forces, the war has ended."

The witches cheered loudly, and even the immortals and a few of the gods joined in.

"Don't celebrate just yet," the voice of Mavet echoed through the sky just before he appeared in the full glory of his Elder God power. "I may have lost the war, but that doesn't mean my business with the lot of you is finished." He instantly generated an orb of Celestial Chaos energy so large that it eclipsed the very sky. "With your power weakened so much now, Kye, even with the help of Jouten and Oblivion Lost, you cannot stand against me. I may not be able to kill the three of you, but I will erase all of your friends. Prepare yourself."

"Mavet, you lost the war simulation!" Goddess Kye shouted at him. "Leave now!"

"I don't think so. I openly invite you to stop me, but you will only feel pain under the wake of my power."


	37. Chapter 37: Lord Mavet

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 37: Lord Mavet**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

_ So you have revealed your true colors, Mavet. That's what you're going by now? Death incarnate... The embodiment of chaos..._

_ How could it come to this? How could one simple decision, my decision, bring forth the impending annihilation of three universes?_

_ I have been in slumber for far too long. My power is borderline weak, and I feel as immaterial as a specter._

_ I'm sorry, my dear champions. Toshiro, your death will come sooner than I could act. Aya, you will suffer the worst fate... unbirth. Only memories of you within those Elder Gods who survive will be remain to prove you existed..._

_ And the one who promised that she would protect all my creation is now slowly falling to my level..._

_ I don't deserve to live..._

_ Wrap this up, Mavet. I will hide no longer..._

* * *

"Mavet, you lost the war simulation!" Goddess Kye shouted at him. "Leave now!"

"I don't think so. I openly invite you to stop me, but you will only feel pain under the wake of my power." Mavet held a ball of Celestial Chaos energy so large that it eclipsed the very sky.

"We will not stand by and allow this!" Amaterasu calmly and firmly stated.

"What can a mere mortal such as yourself do?" Mavet asked. "The lot of you are gods of your universes, but to an Elder God you are nothing more than a glorified mortal."

"Then focus on me!" Toshiro yelled. "I still have the blessing. Your Elder God powers will not work on me!"

"Regardless of that, Champion, this mass of energy still has multitudes more power at mortal levels that all of the present company combined."

"I wouldn't say that." Doran and Michelle suddenly appeared on either side of Mavet, holding longswords to his throat.

"Your actions threaten the Seven Stars Multiverse," Michelle said coldly. "Regardless of your issues with some of the present company, you will not be allowed to bring harm to the Seven Stars."

"Ah, my full-fledged colleagues have appeared with their weapons pointed at me," Mavet said as his enormous orb of energy dissipated. "Stand aside. My business is not with you or your Seven Stars." Mavet snapped his fingers and transported everyone, including the planet, to a newly created, if only empty, universe.

At first, the four champions with the blessings were not transported, but after counseling from their Legendary Weapon partners, they allowed the Elder God to transport them.

"Happy?" Mavet asked rhetorically. "Your Seven Stars is no longer a factor."

Doran and Michelle lowered their weapons, but remained.

"Now, while your Seven Stars is no longer a factor, any of the present company who chooses to stay here will forfeit their right to the same protection." As he spoke, several humanoid figures with dark red skin appeared in a line a short distance behind Mavet. "The real battle will begin soon. I suggest that whoever wishes to leave, that _can_ leave, do so immediately."

"Fair enough," Doran said before turning toward the gods of the Seven Stars. "Stay at your own risk. If you wish to leave now, you only need have the desire. I will transport you to safety. This offer extends only those of you who live in the Seven Stars. The rest of you are beyond my protection. Kye?"

The Goddess Kye shook her head. "I cannot go."

"This conflict is between Adam and Mavet. The others will not stand to allow Michelle, Ariel, Adriel, and I to help in this battle. They hold no bars for you, but the only thing tying you here is a promise you made to Adam before he disappeared."

"I _can_ choose to forsake those worlds, but I will not," she replied. "I am honor bound to see this through."

"So be it," Doran said. "The rest of us will be watching." He and Michelle vanished, but not a single one of the Seven Stars gods left.

"Why do the rest of you stay?" the blonde goddess asked. "Mavet can kill you!"

"One of the worlds governed by the Seven Stars Pantheon is at stake," Yami stated bluntly.

"That world was my creation. You don't have to risk your lives for it!"

"We have chosen a side and will see this through."

"I appreciate that, Yami, but I cannot allow you to stay." Goddess Kye waved her hand toward the group, but her power did not respond to her will. She held out her hand and tried again, but she could not call the power of True Zen. "What...?"

"Am I missing something?" Toshiro asked.

"Your power has grown far too weak, Kye," Mavet said. "At this rate, you stand no chance."

Her body quickly flared up in a brilliant silver aura. "The divine power of True Zen may no longer be available to me, but the mortal power of Zen Energy remains."

The mortal Kye flew over to her immortal counterpart and reprimanded her. "You cannot fight. You are not exempt from the power of the Elder Gods. Yoshika, Toshiro, Aya, and I are immune to that power. If we fight him, he will be forced to fight us at mortal level."

"Even at mortal level, he'll be stronger than Zalen, Xera, Zana, and Zanith combined several times over!"

"That is where we weakened Elder Gods can help," Livy said. "Elder God powers will not affect them so long as they wish them not to. They can choose to let us boost their power with our power while still remaining immune to Mavet's Nigh Omnipotence."

"I can boost the True Zen champions," Joey said, "and Livy can boost the Celestial Order champions."

"Even then, it won't be enough," Goddess Kye said.

"We have no choice but to try," Livy said. "It's our only chance."

"Do it," Toshiro said. "We have to try."

"I agree," Yoshika said. "We have to try."

"And you can boost us, too, right?" Aya asked the goddess.

"I cannot. I am too weak now to use True Zen at Elder God levels, and I don't have any mastery with it at mortal levels. I am too weak to make any use of my Nigh Omnipotence."

"Then protect those who are not strong enough to participate," Yami said. "The Strike Witches are just mortals that are not under the protection of Doran and Michelle. Protect them while the rest of us fight Mavet and his minions."

The goddess nodded and flew off toward the Strike Witches. She instructed them to follow her. "We will only be in the way if we remain."

The four champions turned their attention toward Mavet, as did Joey and Livy.

"Joey and I will not participate directly, but we will be channeling power to you," Livy said. "You will basically be the same as the immortals and gods from the Seven Stars. Your bodies will be immortal with an unlimited supply of life energy. You will heal rapidly, and have a much higher pain tolerance."

"You will be able to use the Awakened State without the time limit," Joey continued. "For Toshiro and Mom, you will be wielding an identical copy of Livy and I while we boost your power. These copies will work the same as a mortal Legendary. You can command them through us. You will also not feel pain from the Primordial Blessing."

"You have formulated quite the plan, Champions," Mavet said. "Even with my Nigh Omnipotence being useless against you, and you receiving boosts from Jouten and Oblivion Lost, you stand no chance." He held up his right hand. "Demons of Chaos! These four are mine. Destroy everyone else."

Mavet's demons charged forward, past the four champions, and quickly engaged the gods. The other immortals, being Liliana, Shadow, Yuko, Hiro, Ren, Kenji, Aero, and Aira, were forcibly teleported away by Kaylie as they could not fight at the same level as the gods and would only get in the way. Kaylie wanted to teleport the Strike Witches away as well, but Mavet's power blocked her from doing so since they belonged to one of the worlds at stake.

"You're going down, Mavet," Toshiro said with a thumbs down.

"Bring it on, Champions."

* * *

As the battle between Mavet and the champions began, so did the battle between Mavet's demons and the gods.

Goddess Kye, being weakened as she was, followed the suggestion given to her and protected the Strike Witches. She flew away from the battlefield with them in tow, but before they got too far, Rei stopped.

"Mom, you saw how many demons Mavet brought," Rei said.

"Eleven."

"Each one of those demons can fight on par with the gods, and there's only nine gods, ten counting you."

"Lord Zalen will fight two."

"You know that's not going to work. If we lose anyone here, it's for real. The simulation is over. We don't just get removed from the battle!"

"Say what you are thinking, Rei."

"I have to fight, too. I'm the Goddess of Light now. My power is almost on par with Aunt Yami and Uncle Zen's!"

"You are a mortal! You are not Rei Akari, you are Rei Miyafuji!"

Rei summoned Tenrai and Tenshi, and held one of the blades to her chest. "I can change that right now!"

"No!" yelled every member of the Strike Witches.

"Mom, no!" Kamiko cried. "I already grew up without you once! I still have my memories of growing old from the alternate future. Don't make me go through that again!"

"Kamiko, I have to do this."

"No, you don't! I still remember hating you for disappearing. I don't want that again!"

"You are both right," Goddess Kye said. "You are needed, as the Goddess of Light. With my inability to use my Nigh Omnipotence now, I can't revert you to your godly state. However, you can do that, and without killing your mortal body."

"What?" Rei asked.

"When a world governed by the Seven Stars Pantheon comes under attack from an outside source, our gods can answer the call to arms, regardless of their status."

"How?"

"You need only permission from Lord Zalen or Lady Xera."

"Will she be able to return to her mortal life?" Kamiko asked.

"Maybe. That is up to Zalen and Xera. Given the circumstances, I doubt they will be against it."

"Maybe isn't good enough!"

"Kamiko," Rei said. "If I don't... we will all die."

"But-!"

"I have no choice!"

Kamiko sighed and gave up. "Okay."

**_ "Lord Zalen, Lady Xera, can you hear me?"_** Rei asked.

**_"Yes,"_** Xera answered.

**_"Speak quickly,"_** Zalen ordered.

**_"I wish to join the battle as the Goddess of Light!"_**

**_ "Come then,"_** Xera said.

**_"We will allow it, Goddess Rei."_**

Rei's body glowed brightly, the glow soon too bright to see through. As the glow faded, a near identical girl with a black battle kimono wielding the twin blades appeared in front of them.

"Eighteen years living as a mortal, and suddenly I am forced to battle because Mavet is a sore loser." Her voice was somewhat different. It was more defined and aggressive. Her body was also roughly five centimeters taller.

"Mom?" Kamiko asked.

Rei turned toward her mortal daughter, laid her hand on Kamiko's head, and said, "Wait for me here, Kamiko. I shall return shortly," before vanishing.

* * *

Yami had begun her battle with one of the demons while Goddess Kye was retreating with the Strike Witches. She saw one of the demons fly off after the group, but couldn't go after it and fend off her opponent at the same time.

_She said she can't use her power as an Elder God, so she better be able to use her power as a normal god. She's still Crown Princess Kye Akari of the Light Kingdom._

Yami turned toward the male demon. It had dark red skin, extremely long black hair, and a hulking body. Sticking out of its hair was two large red horns that curved outward away from each other at the tips.

"Lord Mavet must not think very much of us, reducing us to eliminating mere humans," the demon said.

"You are either very confident in your power or very foolish," Yami said. "Perhaps both."

"Strong words, human."

"Strength doesn't even begin to describe the Seven Stars Pantheon." Yami teleported up to the demon, jabbed him hard in the gut, and kicked him upwards. She held a single hand upward and launched a massive beam of blue energy. "We govern out worlds in peace, and defend them in war. I am the Goddess of Energy and Mortal Magic. This is the true power of the Mahou Shinten Taiho!"

Yami's beam completely disintegrated the demon.

* * *

Not far away, Zen had begun his battle with a demon identical in appearance. Not wanting to waste time, he skipped the pleasantries and attacked immediately.

"Impatient, are we?" the demon asked as he parried Zen's attack.

"A bit," he replied.

"That will be your undoing."

"Not quite." Zen raised his free hand upward and said, "**Tenrai Kurayami! (Divine Darkness!)**" A pillar of darkness fell from the sky that completely engulfed both him and the demon and obscured them from view. Once the pillar of dark energy faded, only Zen was left, completely unharmed.

* * *

As the battle with Mavet began, Toshiro was gradually getting used to his immortal body and godly power, granted to him by Livy.

**_ "How do you feel, Master?"_**

**_ "I feel... Weird..."_**

**_ "Describe me the feeling, Master. I have never done this, so I have to know if I'm doing this correctly."_**

**_ "It's as if you were embracing me. I feel you, but not on the outside, rather on the inside... It's a very warm feeling... And at the same time, it's not a dull warmth, no... I feel reinvigorated. I feel like I could literally move a mountain now. Is this really how a god feels, at least figuratively?"_**

**_ "Master, right now, you're over three times stronger than your dear patron goddess."_**

**_ "Over three times stronger than Ami? What?"_**

**_ "It's true, Master. Right now, if you squared off in a duel, you could best her."_**

**_ "Impossible... Okay, but give me the math for my base power level, please."_**

**_ "You are currently forty billion times stronger than your base mortal level."_**

**_ "You must be kidding, Livy!"_**

**_ "No... Not in the slightest, master... You could take on every mortal that participated in the simulation, and kill them effortlessly. But of course I know that wouldn't be the case, hehe..."_**

**_ "I wish Mio was here now..."_**

**_ "She's not far away, but that would be blatant overkill, Master..."_**

**_ "I still have a tab open on her ass."_**

**_ "If you say so, Master. So, are you going to move that mountain named Mavet?"_**

**_ "Of course!"_**

Toshiro wasn't the only one adjusting to newfound power.

**_ "Mistress, how are you doing?"_**

**_ "I feel as if I used the Awakening, but on a whole new scale, _**Aya answered.**_ I feel your power being channeled into me..."_**

**_ "You're twelve and a half billion times stronger than your usual self, Mistress. It's only natural that you feel so powerful."_**

**_ "Wow... How must Grandpa feel then?"_**

**_ "A five year old on Christmas would be an understatement. Dear Mistress, right now, you have power outrivaling the Seven Stars Pantheon and Amaterasu. Do I have to explain what this implies?"_**

**_ "That I can whoop some serious ass?"_**

**_ "Ah yes, of course, hehe... Mistress, focus on your objective, and help my Master."_**

**_ "Of course I will help Grandpa, who do you think I am?"_**

**_ "You're his granddaughter from a timeline that can possibly disappear. His favorite granddaughter, who he'd give up his life in order to save. Mistress, you don't know how deeply he already loves you."_**

**_ "I understand, Livy. Helping Grandpa also means helping myself, because only if we win this battle will my existence be solidified. This is a coin flip between selflessness and selfishness, but I don't care about that. I promise that I will use the power you have bestowed upon me to the fullest extent, Livy."_**

**_ "I hope this will be enough to stop Lord Mavet... I can't imagine what atrocities he might commit if he wins..."_**

**_ "Livy, how long have you known him actually? Is this his normal behavior?"_**

**_ "No, Mistress, this is not his normal behavior. He was a trickster, but rational and honorable at times. And my dear friend Maeve always supported him, and us, that's Master Adam and me."_**

**_ "You and Maeve are friends? Then maybe..."_**

**_ "No, Mistress. She is very loyal and duty bound to serve her master, so that approach is futile."_**

**_ "Damn it... This means that our only option is to fight. If it's a fight that's needed, then I will fight! Für die Menschheit (For humanity)!"_**

* * *

Not far away, Kaylie began her battle with one of Mavet's demons.

"What a young, beautiful human you are," the demon said. "Lord Mavet instructed us to destroy, but all of my human toys have withered away. I think I will take you as a trophy. I will enjoy defiling you."

"Disgusting," Kaylie said. She held her hand out toward the demon. "**Dimensional Gate.**" She formed a transparent cube around the demon, locking it in a pocket dimension. "**Time Erasure.**" The demon simply vanished from within the dimension.

Kaylie sighed and looked down at her hands. _Even against an enemy, I always feel remorse when I erase something from time and space. I don't feel remorse over what I use it on, but that fact that I use it... Weird._

* * *

Layla found herself in a battle against a similarly perverted demon. Being more modest than Kaylie, Layla couldn't stand to hear the demon out. She quickly fired an arrow from her bow at the demon.

"**Arrow of Disintegration!**" Her arrow pierced the demon's chest and completely atomized it, even breaking it up down to the the water compound of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom that made up most of its body.

"Good riddance."

* * *

**_"Master Yoshika, how are you feeling?"_** Joey asked.

**_ "The power is unbelievable. I feel invincible."_**

**_ "Your body is immortal and your power is above that of the Seven Stars gods. You are ten billion times stronger now than your natural level as a mortal."_**

**_ "It sure feels like it, but is this enough to defeat an Elder God?"_**

**_ "He cannot use his Elder God powers on you. Due to the Primordial Goddess's blessing upon you and the other champions, he is forced to fight at "mortal" levels. I can't say for sure if it's enough, but I believe in you and the others."_**

**_ "Thank you, Joey. I will not waste this power!"_**

**_ "I'm glad you feel that way, Yoshika," _**Kye added.

**_ "How about you, Mother?" _**Joey asked.

**_ "You called me "Mother"!"_**

**_ "I apologize, Master."_**

**_ "No, no! I prefer it that way."_**

**_ "Okay, _****Mother_. How do you feel?"_**

**_ "Everything is working like a charm. I feel the same as I was in my life as Crown Princess Kye Akari, with some extra power added to that."_**

**_ "Good. I've never done this before, so I wanted to make sure it was working right."_**

**_ "Joey, you are _****my_ daughter. Of course you're doing it right."_**

**_ "Hehe."_**

* * *

"Impressive, Champions!" Mavet shouted excitedly. "Very impressive." Mavet dodged between the four champions as each rigorously attacked. "I haven't enjoyed a battle this much in eons!"

"**Celestial Reppuzan!**" Toshiro and Aya yelled as they launched massive monochromatic Reppuzans from opposite directions.

"Yes! Give me more!" Mavet taunted as he held his hands out and blocked the Celestial Reppuzans with his hands, assisted by his own celestial power.

"**True Zen Reppuzan!**" Yoshika fire a rainbow colored Reppuzan at Mavet, which he blocked as well, but Kye managed to hit him from above with the same technique.

Mavet couldn't block Kye's technique and was launched into the ground. He was left in the center of a several kilometer deep crater. As he stood up, his expression became wilder. "YES! GIVE ME MORE!"

* * *

Meanwhile, the battles between the demons and the gods continued. As each god finished their fight with one of the demons, they were left drained of most of their power. None of them had enough left to fight a second demon. Zalen, Xera, Zana, and Zanith killed their demons with extreme prejudice. None of the four gave the demons a chance to even speak, each blasting them with powerful energy attacks on the first move.

"**Flame of the Rising Sun!**" Amaterasu wasn't much different. She summoned a solar flare from the sun and incinerated her opponent in seconds.

Rei took a little longer, being closer to an even match against her opponent, but she still killed it once she employed her signature technique. "**Seiken: Myobatsu! (Holy Sword: Divine Retribution!)**" She swung her sword downward toward her target from a distance and simultaneously brought down an enormous blast of light energy as if it were at the tip of a giant sword being swung simultaneously. The blast vaporized her opponent.

* * *

The demon that Yami saw fly off toward Goddess Kye and the Strike Witches caught up to them fairly quickly, not long after Rei teleported away to fight her opponent.

"I drew the short straw, but I will take pleasure in the fact that I get to kill an Elder God," the demon said.

"I may be too weak to use my Elder God power, but I am still on par with the Seven Stars Pantheon with my mortal power, having been one of them for nearly ten thousand years," Goddess Kye said. "Regardless of the outcome of our battle, you will never know the sensation of killing an Elder God. Only another Elder God can end our lives, and even then... Special circumstances must be met."

"We'll see about that," the demon said.

"No, we won't." Goddess Kye held up her left hand toward the demon and generated a barrier around the Strike Witches with her right hand. "**Zen Wave Blast.**" An enormous beam of silver energy erupted from her left hand. The beam was easily ten kilometers in diameter and didn't stop until it reached the area where the four champions were fighting Mavet. The demon was completely vaporized by the attack.

* * *

Suddenly, a ten kilometer wide beam of silver energy pierced the battlefield where the four champions were fighting Mavet. Mavet saw the beam coming and simply slashed it in two, allowing it to pass on either side of him. The four champions were behind Mavet, and were able to avoid the beam altogether.

"Whoa. What was that?" Aya asked.

"That would be the other me using the Zen Wave Blast," Kye answered.

"I thought she was too weak to fight," Toshiro said.

"Too weak to use her Elder God power, but she's still able to fight with her mortal power. We mastered Zen Energy in our life as Princess Kye Akari."

"Well, whatever," Toshiro said. "Looks like she won her fight. We still have our fight to win."

"Yeah, and I have a plan for that," Kye said. **_"I'll relay it telepathically with my True Zen."_**

**_ "What are we doing?"_** Yoshika asked.

**_ "The Light Nova should be able to defeat him, but I need to land a direct hit on him with my blade to get an imprint of his energy signature. We all need to attack at once, and as soon as I get the hit, even a flesh wound will work, I will charge the Light Nova, but for this to work, I'm going to need each of you to pool your power into it. It's best that you do it one at a time so the other two of you three can keep him busy."_**

**_"Sounds like a plan,"_** Toshiro approved.

**_ "Let all of us help as well,"_** Yami requested. **_"The rest of us have killed all the demons, and are largely drained, but we can still channel our power to your Light Nova. It can't hurt."_**

**_ "Okay,"_** Kye accepted. **_"But all of you need to pool your power away from the battle. I'll come to you once I have Yoshika, Toshiro, and Aya's power added. We can't have Mavet intercepting us."_**

**_ "Right. We'll prepare for you."_**

**_ "Okay. We're all set. Let's get this plan going!"_** Kye teleported up to Mavet and attempted to get her hit in right away, but he blocked her blade and kicked her away.

Yoshika followed up and managed to knock him downward, but he recovered quickly and countered with a powerful wave of Celestial Chaos energy. Toshiro and Aya nullified his wave with a barrier of Celestial Order energy.

Yoshika countered Mavet's counter with a blast of her own. Mavet was able to block the beam, but that left him open for a moment, allowing Kye to land a shallow hit on him with her blade.

"Well done, Champion. You have brought blood to me!" Mavet said excitedly. Kye teleported away before he could return the favor.

"He's insane!" Aya said.

"No kiddin'," Toshiro agreed.

**_"Yoshika first," _**Kye said. **_"Toshiro, Aya, keep him distracted."_**

**_ "Aye aye,"_** Toshiro replied as he and Aya bolted toward Mavet.

Kye quickly pulled Mavet's energy imprint from her blade and fused it with her True Zen. Yoshika teleported to her and quickly added her power to the mix.

**_ "Yoshika's done. Aya, switch with her."_**

Aya vanished after attacking Mavet one more time, leaving Toshiro alone for a moment. Just as Mavet tried to cleave Toshiro with a powerful discharge from Armageddon, Yoshika appeared and erected a powerful shield of True Zen.

**_ "Aya's done, Toshiro, switch out."_**

Toshiro vanished after Mavet's attack hit Yoshika's shield. Aya appeared nearby and launched another attack at him in tandem with Yoshika. After Toshiro finished, he rejoined them.

Kye teleported away to Yami and the other gods. Each was ready to pool their power into Kye's ball of energy. One by one they quickly added their power, and as soon as they were done, Kye pointed the ball toward Mavet.

"Are you sure you want to fire that from here?" Rei asked. "What if you miss?"

"This technique never misses. It will chase its target to the abyss," Kye said. Just before she could execute the attack, Goddess Kye appeared before her and added her power to the pot.

"You need all you can get," she said before vanishing again, returning to the Strike Witches.

Mavet, having grown suspicious of one of his opponents no longer attacking him, looked around for Kye. "Where did your fearless leader disappear to?"

"**Light Nova!**" Kye yelled as she willed the ball of energy forward at her target. The Light Nova left her hand with a massive shockwave and hit Mavet in the same split second. Traveling at a speed far beyond that of light, the Light Nova carried Mavet off the planet and into space several million kilometers before exploding ten seconds after its launch. The explosion was enormous and lit up the sky as if it were a second sun.

"Whoa..." Aya said after she, Yoshika, and Toshiro teleported to Kye. "I shouldn't be surprised... but that was incredible..."

"Yeah... That was borderline ridiculous!" Toshiro added. "There's no way he could survive that!"

"Except that we can't kill Elder Gods," Kye said. "He'll survive it, but the important factor is whether or not he's defeated."

"I..." Yoshika mumbled. "What if it does defeat him? Won't he just come back after us once he recovers?"

Kye sighed, but didn't answer at first. The group floated together in silence before she finally answered. "Yeah, he will come back."

"Sooner than later, I might add," Mavet said as he appeared in front of the group. "That was an extraordinary effort, but ultimately vain. You cannot defeat me. Even with those two giving you a massive boost in power, my mortal power is still far beyond. I have grown tired of this game. I will give you five minutes to make your peace." Mavet vanished.

Toshiro let out a deep exhale. "He's right. His power is still at retarded levels, and all of us are nearly drained, even after our boosts from Livy and Joey."

"There has to be something we can do!" Aya said.

"There's nothing a witch can't do!" Yoshika said. "There's always a way."

Kye remained quiet as she tried to think out plans and scenarios, but nothing she thought up was good enough to use against Mavet. Then it hit her.

_Wait. Aya said something..._ She turned toward Aya and asked, "Do you remember what you said after you first came here? You said that my godly self and I are different than you know."

"Yeah, somewhat. You look alike, but there's something missing. It's like the version of you I know is you and the godly you put together."

"Aya, that's it! That's it!" Kye cheered. "That's the problem! I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner!"

"Did I miss something?" Toshiro asked.

"Yeah, what is going on?" Yoshika asked.

"As a mortal, I should never have been able to use True Zen, yet I gained godly power for a short while."

"Yeah, you gave out the Divine Power ability to several people," Toshiro said.

"Exactly! _ Divine_. It makes sense! My godly self has been gradually growing weaker, yet I have gained True Zen and grown stronger! Yoshika, when I died in the alternate future war, you wished for me to be revived! I already came to the conclusion that a portion of my godly self's power was transferred to me accidentally when I was revived, but I now know that it's more than that. Instead of a simple transfer, our life energy was split! I've been unintentionally and subconsciously siphoning her power ever since! I have to return that power. If I do, Goddess Kye will be able to defeat Mavet if she dual wields Jouten and Oblivion Lost."

"How will you return her power?" Toshiro asked.

"There's only one way to do it permanently," Kye said. "But... I need your approval, Yoshika."

"What are you saying?" Yoshika asked.

"If I do this, there won't be two of me anymore. The mortal Kye Miyafuji will be gone."

"No!" Yoshika instinctively cried out. Everyone was surprised by her outburst. She realized that and stayed silent in thought for a few moments. "I..." She struggled to get out the word. "I approve."

"Thank y-"

"But I want a refund! If I can't have my Aunt Kye Miyafuji back, then... I want something else after this is over!"

Kye smiled at her and said, "I'm sure that won't be a problem."

"I'll hold you to it!"

**_"Other me, I have a plan,"_** Kye said to her godly self before relaying the idea to her.

**_"Of course... But if you do this..."_**

**_ "I know the consequences. Come to me."_**

The Goddess Kye appeared in front of her mortal self and held out her hand.

"What about Adam?" Toshiro asked suddenly. "He's partially at fault for this whole predicament, so why not-" he paused and took a deep breath "-why not try to make him responsible and pull him out from whatever hole he's crawled into?"

The Goddess Kye hovered to him, and after placing her hand on his shoulder she said, "That won't do, Toshiro. I know what you want to do, but that really won't work."

"Why? Just tell me why, for once without all your riddles, half-truths, and verbal sways!" He gritted his teeth so hard that his Celestial Order power had to repair them on the fly.

"That was what I intended to do," she said with a calm smile. "Right now, from almost fourteen billion years ago - when he tried to take his life and created your universe - up to this moment, his power was, and still is, very week. I would estimate him at roughly half of what I am at currently in my crippled state, and that means that he's essentially unfit for combat. I can't use my fully powered True Zen right now, but I have a mortal power to fall back on. Adam never lived a mortal life like I did, so he doesn't have anything to fall back on. Without his Celestial Order and Nigh Omnipotence, just imagine what would happen if he was put into no holds barred combat with somebody of his _kin_ who is at full power. Should I say it out loud?"

He clenched his fists so hard that the blood started seeping through his fingers and the metacarpal of his right middle finger snapped, piercing the skin on the back of his hand.

"Grandpa..." Aya gasped.

His aura flared up for a moment and his injuries healed immediately, but his face looked as if a scar just appeared on his very soul.

"Toshiro, right now, _you_ are more powerful than Lord Adam," Kye said.

Toshiro grunted. "He can do nothing... Nothing at all... Fucking useless piece of shit!" he yelled, swinging his open hand with such force that a gust furled the clothes of everyone nearby.

"We have no choice," both Kyes said together. Goddess Kye held out her hand again. Mortal Kye took her hand and the two glowed in an intense rainbow light. The light grew so bright that nothing of them could be seen.

When the light faded, only one remained, but she was different. She was wearing neither a Striker Flight Suit nor a Battle Kimono. Her hair was no longer tied up in a ponytail, rather it was loose and reached to her knees, her bangs hanging down to her chest. She now wore a simple white shirt and white jeans, as well as a long sleeve white over coat that strongly resembled a military officer's dress uniform, its sleeves so long that they covered her hands. It was buttoned from her collar to just above her belt, the last few buttons laying loose below that. The buttons were gold, as was the buckle of her white belt and the strings of her white shoes.

As she opened her eyes, the rainbow seven pointed star of the Seinarugan Eye was not present, instead a twenty point rainbow design over each eye.

She held her hand up in front of her and said, "I have returned."


	38. Chapter 38: Farewell

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Chapter 38: Farewell**

* * *

**-April 28th, 1953-**

"I have returned."

Joey and Livy appeared in the midst of the group, both in awe and at a lack for words.

"So did it work?" Toshiro asked.

The blonde just stared blankly.

Toshiro floated up to her and waves his hand in front of her eyes. "Hello? Is anybody home?"

She didn't respond.

Toshiro turned to Livy and asked, "Is she broken? This is a hell of a time to-"

"No, Master," Livy said. "Lady Kye, if we can still call her that, has been restored to her true glory."

"Uhh... What?"

"She is no longer weakened," Joey said. "I can feel my own power being restored."

"Wait, does that mean we just won? Michelle said that at her peak, Kye can singlehandedly defeat multiple Elder Gods, and can even beat all of them while wielding you."

"If she chooses to help. My Master in her original state is different from Lady Kye Akari or Kye Miyafuji."

"Jouten?" the fully realized Elder Goddess asked quietly.

"Yes, Master?" Joey responded instantly.

"Why are we here...?" The Elder Goddess closed her eyes for a moment and spoke softly. "I have a nine thousand, nine hundred, eighty one year blank to restore. One moment..."

"Uhh, what?" Aya asked.

She opened her eyes again and continued, "Memories of Kye Akari and Kye Miyafuji restored. Information of all other history of my blank gained."

"Aunt Kye?" Yoshika asked.

She shook her head, "No, I am not Kye Miyafuji."

"Big Sister?" Yami asked, "Are you okay?"

"I am not Kye Akari either," she said. "I am Elder Goddess Kye. We do not have surnames."

"So you can-" Toshiro began, but was interrupted.

"He has changed drastically in these past few thousand years," Kye continued. "He's going by Mavet now. How fitting. He's gone as far as this even after losing the War Simulation. He created an empty universe just so that he wouldn't have to deal with Doran and Michelle."

"Will you stop talking nonsense and end this battle?!" Toshiro yelled at her.

"My mortal incarnations had invested themselves in this battle of yours on their own accord. There is no reason for me to participate."

"I was wondering why I could no longer hear your conversations," Mavet said as he reappeared. "Your plan to restore some of her power worked. I applaud, however vain the effort."

Kye ignored him and continued, looking upon Yoshika. "You are the one my mortal incarnations chose to be my champion. I approve."

"Then help us!" Yoshika said.

"There is no help left for you," Mavet said as he summoned Armageddon and flew toward Kye. "This is the end."

He brought his blade horizontally to Kye's neck, but the blow only resulted in a shockwave. Not a single strand of her hair or bit of skin was cut by his blade.

He jumped back, surprised somewhat, "Impressive. I will have to take it up a notch."

"No," Kye said as she turned around. "Stand down, Mavet."

"Stand down? You must be-"

Before he could finish his statement, he suddenly found several bar shaped pieces of rainbow energy floating near him. Kye waved her hand, and the bars flew toward Mavet and interlocked, forming a makeshift prison cell.

"You lost the War Simulation. Honor your word."

"Honor my word? Bring Adam to me and I will _honor my word_ with him!" Mavet brought forth the full power of his Nigh Omnipotence and released an omnidirectional wave of Celestial Chaos energy, busting apart the rainbow prison cell. He pointed Armageddon at Kye and launched the most powerful beam he could muster.

Before the beam could reach her, Joey appeared in front of it and swatted the beam aside. She had a thin aura of rainbow energy surrounding her, as well as the same rainbow twenty point star diagram on her eyes.

"You will honor your word!" Joey commanded.

Kye expelled a wave of True Zen that quickly engulfed everyone present, as well as the planet they were on. She transported it back to its proper place within the God Realm of the Seven Stars. There they were greeted by Doran and Michelle.

"Welcome back, Love," Doran said.

"We missed you, Kye," Michelle added with a smirk.

"Missed her?" Mavet asked, not wanting to piece together the meaning of her words.

"Have you realized it now?" Doran asked. "The real Elder Goddess Kye has returned. Your battle is over, Mavet."

"No! Just like that?!"

"Silence, Mavet. I will address you soon enough," Kye said.

"You will _address_ me now," he said as he teleported to her with Armageddon in midswing, imbued with the full power of his Celestial Chaos. Before his blade could make contact, Kye vanished and reappeared above him. She kicked his face and launched him to the ground while simultaneously disarming Armageddon from his grip.

Kye held the blade and imbued it with True Zen, forcing Maeve to take her human form, however she ignored Maeve. Kye turned her attention to Mavet and said, "You have raised your hand against me three times already. I will not tolerate a fourth. If you do not stand down and honor your word, I will not hesitate to counter with lethal force. What is your answer?"

Mavet looked to Maeve, who merely shook her head while telepathically saying, **_"She is the real deal. Only Lady Kye in her full glory could force a Deus Telum from their weapon form. Please, don't continue."_**

Mavet looked back to Kye and answered, "So be it. The true Kye has returned. I will stand down."

* * *

Kye snapped her fingers, and the entire group was transported to the original base on the first continent where everyone who had been eliminated from the simulation in the final battle appeared.

The Neuroi Commanders, who were brought from the third world, were there as well, though they were no longer transformed into Neuroi, instead they were in their original forms. They were blue skinned humanoid creatures with the same general makeup of a human. Their ears were larger and pointed and their white hair reached to their waist. They wore leather clothing seemingly of days long past.

Kye gave her attention to one that was a Neuroi High Commander. "Queen Maris, your people may return to your world free of harm or threat. Lord Mavet will bear no ill will toward you."

"Kye! How dare you speak for me?!" Mavet argued.

"Silence!" Kye commanded. "You have committed many crimes against the people gathered here. You have no right to speak for yourself. The Azaran people are among those who you threatened with destruction of their universe. You will not be allowed to carry out that threat." She waved her hand and generated a portal. "Queen Maris, you and your people need only step through this portal to be returned to Azaria."

"Thank you, Lady Kye," Maris said. She turned to the various witches. "In the War Simulation, we fought as enemies, but do know that none of my people hold any ill will toward you. We fought both against our will and for the survival of our world. I hope that you will not hold that against us. If the Elder Gods will allow it, you are welcome to visit Azaria at any time." She approached Toshiro. "You gained my respect in our battle, Champion. If you visit Azaria, and I invite you to do so, we will hold a celebration in your honor."

"I would be honored to visit your world," Toshiro replied.

Maris bowed slightly to Toshiro and turned toward the portal. "Farewell, Champion." She and the other Azarans walked through the portal. After the last, the portal closed.

Kye next turned her attention to the witches and the Neuri Tribe warriors. "Under the premise of a simple simulation, the lot of you were brought here to battle. Now the lot of you know the truth behind the battle. I will not apologize for the deceiving acts of my mortal incarnation, Kye Akari, as that is not my responsibility. However, I will offer thanks in her steed, as my Nigh Omniscience tells me she would have been grateful for the effort put forth by everyone." She held up her hand and generated two more portals, one green and one blue. "The green portal will return you to the Joint Strike Force base in Berlin, Karlsland on the same day you left. The blue portal will return those of you from the alternate world to your respective time and place."

"What about Kye Miyafuji?" Mio asked.

"Yes! I want my aunt back!" Yoshika said.

"That will not be possible," Kye said. "I cannot revive my mortal incarnations without once again splitting my power. I will not subject my worlds to such danger."

Several other witches, including Edytha Roßmann, Adolfine Galland, Ayaka Kuroe, Keiko Katou, Takeko Katou, Tomoko Anabuki, Junko Takei, and Tetsuko Wakamoto, stepped forward.

"Kye Miyafuji was, _is_ one of my friends!" Edytha argued. "She was there for me when I was just a green witch cadet. You cannot take her from us!"

"I agree," Adolfine said. "I first met her in the Fuso Sea Incident. Time and time again, she has changed the world, and our lives."

"We will not stand by and watch as our friend is taken away!" Ayaka added strongly.

"Your friend died in the Third Neuroi War of your alternate future," Kye said. "Hold a funeral if you wish. Kye Miyafuji is dead."

"But she's a part of you, right?" Yoshika argued. "I know she is still there, inside you. I was given a wish when I cleansed the world with the Zen Serenity. That wish has been taken away, so I want a new wish!"

"Then speak your wish, Champion."

"Merge Kye's personality with yours - both Kyes - and come live in Yokosuka," Yoshika demanded. "That will allow me to have my aunt, and will allow the world to keep Kye Miyafuji."

"I see why my mortal incarnation was so fond of you," Kye said softly.

"Well?!"

Kye smiled, and glowed in her rainbow aura for a moment. "It is done, my niece."

**_"You chose well, Kye,"_** came a familiar voice to everyone telepathically.

"I heard that..." Toshiro said. "The Primordial Goddess?"

Clothed in a black cloak, the Primordial Goddess appeared, along with all the other Elder Gods, excluding Adam the Allgod.

"Mentor," Kye said. "It is good to be myself again."

"You are more than that now. You have gained the emotions you learned as Kye Akari and Kye Miyafuji. You know what it is to be both human and Elder God."

"Yes." Kye turned back to the witches. "I will resume the life of Kye Miyafuji, at least until the time for a proper death of old age comes. More than just being my mortal incarnations, Kye Akari and Kye Miyafuji are now one with me."

"As long as we keep our friend," Edytha said.

"Of course, _Paula_," Kye said with a snicker.

"HEY! You said you wouldn't call me that in front of everyone!"

"Oops, hehe."

"You did that on purpose!"

"Maybe," Kye said.

"I expect to see you in Berlin soon!"

"Soon."

Satisfied, the various members of the Witch Force returned to their respective worlds.

* * *

Only the Strike Witches, their guest members, those from the Seven Stars, and the Elder Gods remained.

Everything suddenly lost its color and everyone, including the majority of the Elder Gods, suddenly froze in place. Only the Primordial Goddess, Kye, Joey, Livy, and Toshiro were left unfrozen. The Primordial Goddess walked closer to Toshiro, and gestured at Kye to join them.

"You still have it," the Primordial Goddess said. "It is time to pass it on to Toshiro."

"Pass what on to Toshiro?" Toshiro asked.

Kye took Toshiro's left hand and held his middle finger between her thumb and index finger. A ring appeared on his finger. It was translucent with dark stars inside and a white zigzag pattern resembling the twenty point diagrams on the eyes of the Elder Gods.

"What is this about?" Toshiro asked.

"It belongs to Adam," Kye said. "Keep it with you. It will be important in the future."

"And I don't suppose you will tell me why?"

"And spoil the surprise?" Kye said with a light laugh. "Just like how the Elder Gods cannot know their own future in a time of major conflict, such as knowing the results of the War Simulation ahead of time, you cannot know this important bit of your own future. Just know that your _life_ may depend on it."

"Well, that's a better answer than your cryptic ass usually gives," Toshiro said.

"Don't forget, Toshiro. I am not Kye Akari. Her personality is part of mine now, but I am not her."

"Meh, whatever." He shrugged.

"I will take my leave now," the Primordial Goddess said. Everything unfroze as she walked back toward her previous position. "Welcome back, Kye." She vanished in a shroud of rainbow energy.

After she left, the Elder Gods started giving their greetings.

"It is good to see you again, Lady Kye," Eliana greeted as she teleported closer. "I do hope you'll visit my and Elias's world again."

"Indeed," Elias added. "Archmage Lanrathor has repeatedly asked of your wellbeing ever since you left the Ten Kingdoms, as have his brotherhood of knights."

"Ah, yes," Kye replied. "I daresay Lanrathor is the most honorable wizard I have ever met. Sometime after my life as Kye Miyafuji ends, I will have to come visit them."

"We look forward to your visit, Lady Kye," Elias said with a bow.

"Farewell for now," Eliana added, also with a bow.

"Farewell, Lady Eliana, Lord Elias."

Elias, Eliana, and their weapon partners vanished.

"The mortals of Eliana and Elias's domain are not the only to ask about you," Kadmiel said as he and Katriel approached.

"Yes, Lord Calithil of the High Elves has also asked about you," Katriel added. "It would be nice if you come to visit again after you visit the Ten Kingdoms."

"You are always welcome in the Elven Realms, Lady Kye," Kadmiel said.

"Thank you, Lord Kadmiel, Lady Katriel. I look forward to visiting old friends," Kye said.

"Until then, Lady Kye," Katriel said. She and Kadmiel bowed slightly and disappeared together with their weapon partners.

After them, Phantom approached. "I was right. I suspected you would regain your full power, Kye."

"Your faith was not misplaced, Phantom," Kye said. "Destroy any universes lately?"

"I actually created one four thousand years ago," Phantom answered. "I grew bored waiting for it to mature and gave it a push. There is absolutely no supernatural powers in that world. I am rather happy with it, despite the fact that the humans living within it cannot stop warring with one another."

"You'll have that with any world."

"Indeed. I will take my leave now. Farewell, Kye."

"Farewell, Phantom."

He vanished.

The only other Elder Gods remaining were Doran, Michelle, Ariel, and Adriel. "We'll stay, if you'll allow us to come live with you in Yokosuka, Fuso."

"I think we can swing that," Kye said. "Before the rest of us leave, there's one more thing to attend to. Mavet has committed many crimes against multiple worlds. Out of all his crimes, he attempted to destroy universes under the domain of two other Elder Gods as well as one under the domain of the Primordial Goddess. As his primary target was Toshiro's world as part of his quest of vengeance toward Lord Adam, Mavet will answer to Adam's champions."

"I will leave this ordeal solely to Grandpa," Aya said.

Toshiro stepped forward and walked straight up to Mavet.

Mavet looked at Toshiro with a disgruntled face, however not emanating with immediate hostility. "I have been beaten. I accept my loss and will bring no harm to any of the universes mentioned."

"That's not good enough," Toshiro said.

"What more do you want from me?"

"What drove you to do this, Mavet?" Toshiro asked calmly. "To involve three universes in a single war, why did you do this?"

"I may not be able to pierce your mind, but your eyes tell me everything. Somebody has told you about Adam's history. Who was it?"

"Your immediate guess might be wrong..."

"Not Kye-slash-Kye? I somehow she wouldn't say. She has always been a secretive bitch... Miss fucking Rainbows, the pupil of the Primordial Goddess, acting as if her shit doesn't smell... So it probably was one of the Mayas?"

"Yeah, it was Doran, against Kye's will, but I doubt he could pull that stunt once again, given how his _wife_ is powerful now." Toshiro smiled slightly.

"I shouldn't have hesitated. I should have just did what I wanted to do in the first place. That blonde shit and the smaller blonde shit were weakened, and I could simply poof the three universes out of existence, killing multiple proverbial birds with one proverbial stone. Then I would simply duke it out with her, kill you, and vendetta finita."

"So this was just about vengeance? You could have took me out any given time and place, and use your powers to wrap up the rest."

"I had to bring Mister _Hide and Seek_ out of his foxhole first. Believe it or not, I couldn't locate him until you came into the picture, his-" he laughed briefly "_-champion_. And besides, killing you out of the blue was out of the question. You should know what Adams disappearance did to me and to the universes I have lost in the process."

"So I was right that you'd fuck me with a cactus for all eternity if I came with you..."

"No," Mavet said clearly. "The war would have really ended at that very moment. The outcome of your decision to follow me would be... fluid. I would bring Adam out and we would have a chat. He was always good with words, just as you are now, Toshiro. I would show him what happened after he left. Depending on flow of the conversation, I could do anything - kill you, be it with said cactus or not, banish Adam and Oblivion Lost somewhere, let you go on with your life, or even turn over a new page in our story and start over. I would possibly help him regain his power, so that we could rebuild the paradise we once governed... But Kye fucked it up with her selfish stand up back then, leading to the prolongation of the war."

Toshiro smiled and spread his hands wide, saying, "I'm here. Adam may or may not appear. You can do whatever you want to me. If I'm his ambassador, then I might as well represent him in all matters."

Mavet raised an eyebrow and snickered fiercely. "You're not ready yet, Toshiro. You only saw one side of the coin, and it was probably still obscured from view. Even if I showed you the whole picture, you still wouldn't be ready. Mark my words, Toshiro - I will be back. Live your life as you're living it now, but after your death just don't hide behind Kye or Oblivion Lost and summon me. You won't escape from our next encounter, so prepare yourself and stand before me on even ground. And don't forget to tow Adam with you, will you?"

"Do you promise me that you won't meddle with my mortal life anymore?"

Mavet held his right hand over his chest and said, "I promise."

"Well then, good enough... But there's still one matter at hand that I would like to discuss with you."

"Oh? What's that? I'm genuinely intrigued, you know."

"Your daughter gave me a proposition I couldn't refuse-" Toshiro slowly put his fingers together in a pyramid shape, "-and I'm kind of antsy about divine retribution, so to speak..."

Mavet smirked and out of nowhere, Maia appeared.

"Ah, welcome Father, welcome again Toshiro," she said politely.

"Dear daughter..." Mavet started with a condescending tone. "Why the hell did you give _him_ of all people such a proposition?"

Maia smiled and said, "Let me clear up something, mostly for Toshiro here. I only joined this war because you, my father, asked me to do so. I thought it would be fun, so I agreed without any hesitation. It wasn't fun, but I don't regret it. Prior to that, I didn't even know about you, Toshiro,-" she looked at him closely "-nor did I know about your world, and therefore, I have no personal _beef_ with you." She then turned toward Mavet. "Father, I'm a woman, an adult woman I might add. Every adult human has their needs, and since Toshiro complimented me so nicely, I decided to give him an incentive to fight properly. You always said to me to use reason, but also to have a good time with all I'm doing. And this is exactly that, Father - I want to have a good time. I know that you have your personal differences with Toshiro, but I'm not part of that quarrel."

"Ehhh..." Mavet sighed and patted Maia on the head. "We truly brought up a great daughter... don't you think, Maeve?"

From nearby, Maeve approached and said, "Indeed. We did well in parenting. Maia dearest, you have your own will, and we won't advise you against anything. Well, I do advise you to use your power and prevent pregnancy, because if you had a bastard with him-" she pointed at Toshiro "-I would have to _punish_ you."

Maia laughed dryly, afraid to reply.

"I could take responsibility..." Toshiro mumbled.

Toshiro suddenly felt Livy squeezing his hand while saying, "Master, the only bastard child you can take responsibility for is ours, so don't you dare think about knocking up Maia."

"Now ain't you a bit possessive?" Toshiro asked, surprised. "Are you perhaps proposing that to me? Aren't you Nigh Omnipotent anyway? Would you really need me?"

"Errrrmmm... I would want to do it the traditional way..." Livy muttered with red cheeks. "I do have your genetic material inside me, so..." Toshiro paled immediately, but Livy quickly added, "No, no, Master, I can decide whether or not I get pregnant, don't worry!"

"Ooof... It's not that I wouldn't like to have a kid with you, it's just that... I haven't have the chance to spawn something with Yoshika yet, that's all. You know, it would be awkward if our daughter-slash-son would be older than my legitimate children..."

"Hehe..."

"So anywho, did you and Maeve talk your differences out?"

"The two of us were never conflicted, Master Toshiro. It's just that a Deus Telum holds their master above all else and will never outright defy the will of their Master," Livy explained.

"I had to obey my Master and my beloved," Mavis said. "That is the honor and duty of the Deus Telum. I bid you farewell, both of you. It was unfortunate we had to fight each other."

"Hey, Maeve, we're not friendly with them yet," Mavet pinched his consort on the cheek.

"I apologize, Master."

"Remember, Toshiro - I'll be back," he made a finger pistol, aimed at him, and disappeared.

"When the time comes, I'll have a go at you, Toshiro." Maia winked at him. "Or maybe with both you and your lover? Mother, what do you think about that?"

"That is a conversation to be had in private, Maia," she muttered and both of them disappeared.

* * *

"We're all that's left now," Minna said. "I think it's time for us to return home, too."

"Yeah," Toshiro said. "The same goes for Aya and myself."

"Before you do," Kye said, "I have decided to grant a wish to the three remaining champions. Yoshika, what would you like?"

"But I've already had my wish," Yoshika replied earnestly.

"Your wish for your efforts in the past, not for your efforts in the present."

"Well... I don't really have anything else to wish for. Nothing I can't get on my own, at least."

"Are you sure?"

"Hmm. Actually, something does come to mind. The alternate future with our descendants... the one where we fought the Third Neuroi War. Can you make a portal that we can use to visit them anytime we want?"

"Yoshika, I don't think that's a good idea," Kaylie said. "If she does that, I don't think I'll be able to keep the other timeline intact."

Kye smiled. "You will not need to, Kaylie. I will take the alternate timeline and generate an entire new universe in which for it to exist. However, only the Strike Witches and Kamiko will be allowed to visit the second world due to everyone else having lived their lives out properly whereas you were transported in time sixty years. In short, you belong to both worlds."

"That is my wish," Yoshika said.

Kye snapped her fingers and said, "It is done. Any one of you who are allowed to visit the second world will be able to transport yourselves there. I have imparted the knowledge of the spell directly into your minds."

"Thank you, Aunt Kye."

"You are welcome, my niece," Kye said as she ruffled Yoshika's hair. "Now Aya. What wish would you like?"

"If possible, I would like the ability to visit everyone I met in this world. I made so many new friends here."

"Of course." Kye touched her fingers to Aya's forehead and imparted the knowledge and ability to transport herself to the both of Yoshika's worlds. "You may visit anytime you wish. No time will pass between your departure and return, however you may not abuse this power to train."

"I understand. Thank you, Alissa."

"And now you, Toshiro," Kye said. "What is your wish?"

"My wish is a little more selfish. I want to keep all the knowledge and memories I gained in my time here. I don't want to forget anyone." He glanced to Aya. "Especially not my granddaughter." He looked back to Kye. "I said "all" knowledge, but there is something I think should be locked for now, until I am ready to know."

"And that is what?"

"The existence of the Elder Gods," Toshiro said. "When I was first brought here, I believed that the almighty being was the Allgod, Adam. Then, I learned about you and was made to believe that you were the _allgod_ of this world, the Primordial Goddess. Now I know that you and Adam are Elder Gods and that the real Primordial Goddess is the progenitor of all existence. I don't think I am ready to know about the Elder Gods yet. Maybe after I've matured more in my world."

"I see."

"When I return to my world, I want you to lock my memories so that I will believe you are the Primordial Goddess and that each universe has its own primordial deity, such as Adam the Allgod. More importantly, though, the information Doran gave me about Adam... That needs to be under a tighter lock. I'm not sure that I ever need to know about that, not in my mortal life."

"It will be done, Toshiro. With your memories of the existence of Elder Gods being locked away, your memories containing the true reasoning behind the War Simulation will also be locked. You will only believe that it was a simple simulation with no outside influence. All your memories of meetings with the Elder Gods will be locked away, as will your memories of the Primordial Goddess. You will retain no memory of the godly battle with Mavet after the end of the simulation. You will retain memories of Aya and you will not know of Livy's status as an Elder God. You will believe her to merely be a creation of the Allgod who served as his weapon, Oblivion Lost."

"That is what I want. At least until I am ready to know. But... how I will know when I am ready?"

"You won't," Kye said. "However, I will. When you are ready to know, I will restore your memories, all except for the specific information Doran told to you pertaining to Adam. Only after your death will that knowledge be returned."

"Good," Toshiro said. "That is my wish."

Kye touched her fingers to Toshiro's forehead and granted his wish. "The wish will take effect when you leave this world."

"Now I have to ask, with the Primordial Goddess's blessing, how is your power working on us?"

"She has allowed me as an exception to your Elder God immunity, because I will only help you."

"Hmm... Well I guess it doesn't matter either way now since the whole ordeal is over and I'll be losing the blessing soon anyway."

"If you want to look at it that way."

Toshiro glanced to Yoshika and mused a thought. He then remembered an idea he had several days prior during the conversation he had with Yoshika about his past, her past, saving the world, and what it's like to be a parent.

He looked to her and relayed his idea telepathically. **_"She has done so many selfless acts, and even though her wishes were partially for herself, they were for others, too. Do you think you could give her this? I think she deserves it, and it is probably the only way she'll be able to have that sort of partner."_**

Kye smiled and replied, **_"Indeed. I think it would be okay."_**

**_ "Thank you."_** Toshiro looked toward Yoshika and said, "Do you remember when we were talking at that oak tree? About the past, saving the world, love, and such?"

Yoshika nodded. "Vividly."

"I had an idea back then, and I just ran it by Kye here. I want you to have someone to share your life with, and I would like to be the one to do it, but I have to return to my world," Toshiro said. "But if there were two of me... maybe it could work. Finding a man that can handle being a permanent part of your life won't be easy... but maybe you don't have to search anymore."

Yoshika was speechless.

Kye waved her hand next to Toshiro, and an identical copy of him faded into existence. "They are identical in every way, except that the second Toshiro doesn't have the celestial powers that come with being a champion of his Elder God. They have the same memories and knowledge up to now. They have the same thought patterns, the same familiar, the same mortal magic, the same..._ libido_..."

"My libido is better," the second Toshiro said. "And I'm _bigger_."

"Them's fightin' words, Toshiro Deuce," Toshiro said playfully before putting his serious face back on. "Yoshika, I love you the same as I love my Yoshika. The only person I feel I can trust to take care of you is-" he looked at his perfectly identical clone "-me."

Yoshika flared up her True Zen powers and laid her right hand on Toshiro's chest and her left on Toshiro Deuce's chest. "Aside the lack of Celestial Order, I can't tell a difference."

"It'll be like I never left," Toshiro said.

"I left?" Toshiro Deuce joked.

Toshiro laughed. "I see what I did there."

Yoshika smiled warmly. "Thank you, Toshiro."

"One thing they have in common now but will have in difference after you return to Earth is their age," Kye added. "They share the same birthday, but Toshiro _Deuce_ will not be returning to year 1945, rather to 1953, so he will age appropriately to match."

"So I will be bigger," Toshiro Deuce said with a snicker.

Yoshika giggled and said, "True and blue the same."

"Also," Kye continued, "there is one other thing I am willing to do for you, being unhappy about the fact myself. Yoshika, I know how your first husband treated you and Ayame. In response to that, I am willing to retroactively modify the DNA of the semen that led to your pregnancy with Ayame. Specifically, I can change it to Toshiro's DNA so that Toshiro Deuce will be more than just an adoptive father."

"I don't know..." Yoshika said. "Can I wait to decide on that one? I want to say yes, but I can't just change something about my daughter without giving it much thought."

"Of course. I will make that retroaction whenever you decide, or I won't if you don't."

"That was a curveball..." Toshiro mumbled. "If you do that, I'll have a kid and I won't have one at the same time... Meh, whatever. It seems we're prolonging this too much. Clone Bro, attention!" Toshiro Deuce snapped into attention immediately, and the proper Toshiro continued, "Soldier, you will now embark on a tough but rewarding mission. Your objective is to satisfy Yoshika - monetarily, spiritually, and above all, sexually!"

"Ho boy..." Aya sighed.

"Monetarily won't be an issue..." Yoshika added dryly.

"Your secondary objective is to rise to power," Toshiro continued. "You _will_ train your ass off, and wipe off the shame of defeat that I, or rather_ we_, have incurred!"

"I think he's talking about me..." Mio whispered to Minna.

"That is all!"

Toshiro Deuce snapped with his heels and shouted, "Jawohl!"

Toshiro smiled and said, "And above all else, live a happy life. I'm green of envy now, because you have something I can only hope for right now. Don't blow this chance, Clone Bro."

Toshiro Deuce shook his hand and said, "Don't worry, Progenitor Bro, I will. I hope you will find your paradise."

Yoshika jumped up and gave him a kiss on the forehead saying, "Fare well, Toshiro. I promise I'll remember the original you, hehe..."

"Oh stop, or your future husband will smack me one, heh..." he patted her head.

"Future h-hus... Eh?" Yoshika blushed.

"Woohoo, Yoshika's getting hitched!" Shirley shouted.

"S-Stop! T-This is going too fast!" Yoshika protested.

"Grandma, trust me, it's worth it," Aya nodded her head. "I_ know_."

"I've already had a husband, you know..." Yoshika mumbled. "And I have Ayame."

"Oh and, I'll be sure to come to the wedding!" Aya winked. "But for now, good bye."

"Goodbye, my otherworldly would-be granddaughter..." Yoshika sighed and smiled.

Toshiro approached the Mayas, looking crookedly at Elizabeth.

"So, this is it. I'll definitely remember three of you, but there's a chance I'll forget about the other two of you..." he pointed out at Michelle and Doran. "I wish I could forget about you though," he added caustically looking at Elizabeth.

"My belt is always ready for you," she replied with a grin.

"Stop it, Liz..." Michelle sighed.

"I would like to apologize, at least for some of my hostility toward you," Elizabeth said. "I am very protective of my family and overreacted more than once."

"Well that's nice of-" Toshiro began, but was interrupted.

"But repeat the offense and I would do it again," she added honestly with a wink.

"Grumble..."

"Yo, Kye, you're not gonna make Toshiro forget about Doran and me, right?" Michelle asked.

"He will forget about your godhood and all that's connected to that, but he will remember you as mortals," Kye replied.

"As I thought... So, win that war and marry your fiancé, ya hear?"

"Hey, that's why I'm returning there in the first place," Toshiro shrugged and looked at Doran. "It's good I won't forget such a bro, heh..."

Doran slammed him on the back and said, "Fight the good fight, Bucko! And be sure to expand your harem!"

"I just hope it won't include cousins, and_ siblings_," he snickered.

"Love is more important than any human concept of morality," Michelle said with genuine honesty. "Love is _primordial_, so to speak. My faggot brother will argue that, but he's not the Elder God."

Michael only responded with a sigh.

While Toshiro was talking with the Mayas, Aya had started talking with the Strike Witches.

"It's a time to say goodbye..." Aya sighed deeply. "You know what's funny?"

"What's that?" Minna asked.

"I know how you will look in your fifties." Aya snickered.

"Oh pff... As if that's important..." Trude pouted.

"You're all beautiful..." Aya said softly. "There was a reunion just before I came into the simulation. Looking at the Strike Witches from my world who all aged gracefully but still with their unlimited energy made me happy... Please stay together, okay?"

"Who do you think we are?!" Mio asked. "There's no force that will break our bond of friendship!"

"Group hug!" Shirley shouted, and Aya was soon sandwiched between the girls.

"Thanks..." she said through tears of joy.

Meanwhile, Toshiro was standing before the gods of the Seven Stars.

"I fucking wish you guys would govern my planet... Sheesh... What a bunch of useless fucks they are there..."

"Every system has a purpose, Toshiro," Zalen said. "Even such restrictions imposed on your gods have sense, since there are so many, all with varied powers and personalities, and with different mythologies."

"I suppose you're right..."

Toshiro suddenly felt somebody giving him the noogie of ages, and when he could finally turned around, he saw a pouty Amaterasu.

"Whoops..."

"Whoops my ass, Toshiro. I know you hate to be a lapdog of the gods, but don't be so obstinate about it..."

"Sorry, Ami. How about we kiss and make up?"

Ami blushed suddenly and disappeared, reappearing hiding behind Livy.

"Master, you're a hound..." the blond goddess sighed.

"Livy..." Toshiro saddened suddenly.

She noticed it, and instantly appeared before him.

"What is it, Master?"

"You'll be alone again, Livy... When I return to my world, I will probably forget about our special bond... What a bother..."

"Master, I will stand by your side nevertheless. I'll just have a small timeout for you to adapt back to your world, and when the time is right, I will return."

"You'll be _just_ Livy, a _tool_ of the Allgod..."

Livy did something that surprised him, as she kissed him in front of everyone, passionately and deeply. Toshiro could feel her twisted emotions in that kiss, and he wanted to cry.

"I guess I'll have to hold this moment in my heart until my true Master returns..." Livy blushed. "I'll see you soon, Master Toshiro."

"See ya, Livy."

He turned around, seeing Aya in front of him.

"So uh, Grandpa..."

"I really don't know what to say..." he barely squeezed through his constricted throat.

"It's only about thirty seven and a half years until you see me like that... And..." a single tear streaked down her cheek and she ran into his open arms. "Please win this war and survive, Grandpa... I want to be alive, just the way like I am right now... I regret nothing in my life, and if I can't be born into the world..."

"Ssshhh..." He patted her head. "There, there... This is something surreal, even after what I witnessed right now. My own granddaughter, only a year younger than me... Aya, promise me one thing."

"What is it, Grandpa?" she asked and looked at Toshiro, who was a teary mess himself.

"If I finally meet you as you are now in your timeline, just tell me one thing, Aya - "We made it.""

"I will remember, Grandpa..."

"Dawwww..." Kamiko mused.

"Aya is more like a daughter to him..." Rei sighed and looked to the side.

"Mom? What is it?"

"Nothing... Nothing..."

"Dry up your tears, Champions of Adam," Kye said. "It's time you go back to your respective timelines."

The two regained themselves, stood side by side, and turned toward everyone. Toshiro started, "Farewell, everyone. I will make sure to visit again, as long as Blondie will let me."

"Of course," Kye added quietly.

"And so will I!" Aya cheered, with tears of joy in her eyes. "Thank you for everything. Without you, I wouldn't have a home to return to."

Kye generated two more portals, one for Toshiro and one for Aya.

"Wait!" Kaylie said. "Let me mess with Toshiro's portal. I brought him here and his pilots think he's in the toilet, so..." She waved her arm toward the portal, causing it to glow brighter for a moment. "Fixed!"

"This better not be a prank..." Toshiro sighed.

"It's not a prank, but it _will_ be funny!" Kaylie said.

Toshiro smiled. "We'll see."

He and Aya waved as they started to step through.

"Hey!" Erica shouted before they disappeared. "Make sure to come to our next reunion! You're part of the Strike Witches now!"

Toshiro and Aya both waved back. Together they said, "We will!" before disappearing into their respective portals.

"Welp, our turn to go home," Doran said. "Mom's cookin' spaghetti for us."

"Really?" Elizabeth's face lit up.

"Yep," Michelle added.

"Let's get going!" Michael added.

"Goodbye, everyone," Danielle said.

"Until next time!" Ariel and Adriel added.

"Kye, we'll meet up with you in Berlin later."

The seven of them disappeared.

Kaylie and Layla traded glances, and said, "Grandma Delila's spaghetti!" before disappearing.

"Not fair..." Rei said.

"Go on, Rei," Xera said. "You and Kamiko can return to Earth afterward, as mortals."

"Me, too?" Rei asked.

Xera glanced to Zalen and he said, "You deserve it."

"Ka-san!" Kamiko cheered.

"Let's go!" Rei ran over to Kamiko, grabbed her hand, and the two disappeared.

"I'm going, too," Joey said as she vanished.

"Time for us to go, too," Yami said, speaking for the immortals of the Light Kingdom. "Grandma Hatsumi will be expecting us." She teleported herself and the rest of the non-godly Light Kingdom folk away.

"Me, too..." Zen added as he disappeared.

"We need to return to our responsibilities as well," Xera said as she and the remaining Seven Stars gods disappeared.

"And I need to return to my world," Amaterasu added before disappearing in a storm of sakura petals.

Livy had tears in her eyes as she looked to Kye. Kye patted her head and responded softly, "You are far too beautiful for tears, Livy."

"I can't help it," she said. "In this world, I was finally able to approach Master Toshiro, but now..."

"It will work out. You won't have to wait very long."

"Thank you, Lady Kye," she said before vanishing.

Only Kye and the Strike Witches remained.

"And you're coming with us!" Yoshika declared.

"Yep," she replied as she generated one last portal. As she walked toward it, her white clothing morphed into her purple and black Battle Kimono. "Back to our lives."


	39. Epilogue and Appendix

-x-

**Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle**

**Epilogue: Eternal Freedom Beyond the Sky**

* * *

**-April 5th, 1970-**

"How many years has it been?" a young white haired girl asked a certain blonde goddess.

"Seventeen. The witches never failed to meet up once every four months, just as promised all those years ago. Even their two friends from the other world have visited from time to time. And their children have grown up."

"Their girls have grown up into beautiful young women. Each one bears a strong resemblance to their mother."

"Indeed."

"Ever since Kye Miyafuji returned to the witches 1952, no witch has lost their magic, regardless of age. The witches no longer even have to use the Striker Unit to fly."

"The Magic Aura has become widespread. The witches have learned and mastered it. It's so effective that the witches no longer require equipment for flight."

"And what about them no longer losing their magic?"

"Originally, witches would start declining at age twenty, but thanks to Kye Miyafuji and Energy Projection, that has changed. After that, the age of decline was extended to the mid-thirties. When I revived Kye Miyafuji in 1952 years ago, I granted another wish. For as long as they live, a witch will never lose their magic."

"How nice of you. How well have the three Neuri Tribes integrated into society?"

"The Blue Neuri Tribe, or those with blue eyes, is led by Xala. They have integrated quite well. Xala's second and third in command, Xelia and Xia, have been working with the world's best scientists, including Ichiro Miyafuji. Xala herself, along with the Red Tribe leader, Xale, has been working with the world leaders to maintain peace."

"What about the _commoners_ of the tribes?"

"The _commoners_ of both the Blue Tribe and Red Tribe have taken to civilian life well. Many of the younger ones have befriended the witches' children. They've trained together, schooled together, and some even work together. The older ones have taken to more combat oriented life, mostly working with the various militaries around the world to train witches and wizards."

"What about the Green Tribe?"

"Xiani and the Green Tribe have mostly remained on their floating island home, Neurida. Xiani has taken a different direction with her integration. She has built multiple airfields on the floating island Neurida and has not only allowed visitors aside the Blue and Red Neuri Tribes, but has invited citizens around the world. Xiani herself occasionally conferences with Xala, Xale, and the world leaders as well. Ichiro Miyafuji and several other leading scientists have visited Neurida and shared their knowledge, a gesture that has graciously been returned."

"So the more advanced technology and knowledge of the Green Tribe has been shared with the rest of humanity?"

"Yes. One major example is the Neurida Transportation System, or NTS for short. It allows a person to travel between two points instantaneously. It's teleportation technology. They have receivers set up all over the world, at least five per continent."

"Innovative! What have the witches been doing in these years?"

"They have been taking life easy and raising their children. With the youngest Strike Witch kid being twenty years old, not including Kamiko, they are all grown. Some have even fallen in love. Youth is a wonderful thing."

"Care to share what each witch individually has been doing?"

"Hmm, well..."

* * *

"General Minna Dietlinde Wilcke has remained in the Karlsland Military and has risen to a four star rank. She pretty much runs the Karlsland Military now. Her daughter, Alina Wilcke, has a close friendship with Mio's daughter, Nori, just like their mothers. Alina was among the first to enroll at the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Like the rest of the Strike Witches' children born in the year 1946, that was her first year in school. She graduated from the academy at age nineteen in 1965.

"General Mio Sakamoto has remained in the Fuso Military and continued to head the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Occasionally, a fellow Strike Witch visited to teach a class. Mio's daughter, First Lieutenant Nori Sakamoto, has met and fallen in love with a young man named First Lieutenant Akira Akiyama. The two met in the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Nori took it upon herself to look after Ayame, Kamiko, and Akane while at the academy. Nori graduated from the academy at age eighteen in 1965.

"Gertrude Barkhorn officially retired five years ago in 1965 at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Her younger sister, Chris Barkhorn, graduated from the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1953, having finally finished her schooling after her days in the hospital. The two now spend their days running a family business together. Trude's daughter Sieglinde Barkhorn has grown up and walked almost identical steps as her mother. If you were to put her next to a twenty three year old Trude, you would think they were twins. Chris had a daughter in 1958, named Amelia Barkhorn, who is currently enrolled in the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Sieglinde graduated from the academy in 1965 shortly after her eighteenth birthday.

"Erica Hartmann also officially retired five years ago in 1965, but never advanced past the rank of First Lieutenant. She's rather proud to have maintained that rank throughout her service career, though she could have easily been promoted had she desired it. For whatever reason, Erica now runs a flight school at the Berlin Joint Strike Force Base, perhaps because of her daughter's interest in flying, or perhaps for her own love of it. She has personally taught all of the other Strike Witch children at one point or another during her many guest classes at the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Her sister, Ursula, transferred to the same base in late 1953 and has run the Research and Development division ever since. Erica's daughter, Isabel, went to school at the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1953, as did Ursula's daughter, Irma, in the same year. Ursula was able to enroll Irma a year earlier than normal after sending a letter of recommendation directly to Mio. Isabel graduated from the Academy at age nineteen and Irma graduated at age eighteen, both in 1965.

"Brigadier General Charlotte E. Yeager, or Shirley, has remained in the military. Over the years, she has continued testing new top speed equipment, but has yet to find any technology that can surpass her in free flight speed. Unaided by any sort of flight equipment, be it a Striker Unit or even a Rocket Booster, she has managed to hold a hypersonic speed record at Mach 5.5. Her daughter, Allison Yeager, has developed a similar interest in speed, and although she is still learning, Allison has already proven herself a formidable speed witch. Allison enrolled at the Yokosuka Witch Academy in the first year in 1953 and graduated at age nineteen in 1965.

"Francesca Lucchini retired in 1952 when she returned from the Third Neuroi War in the Second World. That was before the War Simulation. She returned to civilian life afterward. She has devoted her time raising her daughter, Luciana Lucchini, and continues to teach her everything she knows. When I say everything, I mean _everything_. Like daughter, like grabby mother. Luciana enrolled in the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1956 and graduated a year early at age eighteen in 1967.

"First Lieutenant Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen and First Lieutenant Aleksandra Vladimirovna Litvyak remained retired from the Soumus Air Force and Orussian Army, respectively, after returning from the War Simulation. The two do not hide their love for each other from anyone and have raised their daughters to be indifferent about the sexuality of others. Both of their daughters, Anastasiya Viktoriya Litvyak and Aina Ilmatar Juutilainen, turned out to be heterosexual and have fallen in love. Before you ask, the reason two lesbians both have daughters - and they went through natural pregnancies and everything - is because Eila had a moment of weakness in a one night stand. A year later, Sanya wanted a daughter, too, and the two agreed for Sanya to also have a one night stand. They never saw the fathers of their daughters afterward. Aina enrolled in the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1953 and graduated at age nineteen in 1965. Anastasiya enrolled a year later and graduated at age eighteen in 1966. Anastasiya turned nineteen only a few days after her graduation.

"Lynette Bishop retired from the Britannia Air Force in 1956 with the rank of First Lieutenant. She travels between Britannia and Fuso on a regular basis to visit her friend Yoshika and to visit her daughter, Diana, at the Yokosuka Witch Academy. Diana enrolled in 1954 and graduated in 1966 at age nineteen.

"Pierrette Henriette Clostermann, or Perrine, retired from the Gallian Air Force in 1956 with the rank of Captain. She regularly travels to Fuso with Lynne to visit Yoshika and their daughters. Louise enrolled in the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1954 and graduated at age nineteen in 1966. During her first year of High School at the academy, Louise enlisted in the Gallian Air Force and was allowed to complete her training in Yokosuka as part of a joint program between Fuso and Gallia. Louise remained at the academy as a liaison of the Gallian Air Force to be a full time teacher. Louise met and fell in love with Fuso Army First Lieutenant Kenji Katou, son of Takeko Katou, during her time attending school at the academy.

"Rei Miyafuji retired from the Fuso Imperial Navy at the rank Second Lieutenant as soon as the group returned from their time travels in 1952 and remained retired after the War Simulation. This was before the Fuso Imperial Militaries were reformed into the Fuso Self Defense Forces in 1955. Rei transferred to the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1953 and graduated the same year at age eighteen. Rei has a very close relationship with her daughter, Second Lieutenant Kamiko Miyafuji. After Kamiko's memories of 2012 battles were restored, their relationship became more sisterly than anything. Despite Kamiko's request to Toshiro to help Rei, and he did help her sometime after the War Simulation, Rei did not manage to find new love. Nonetheless, Kamiko was satisfied in that her mother tried.

"Kamiko Miyafuji enrolled at the Yokosuka Witch Academy a year early in 1958. She also skipped two grades, one in Elementary School and one in High School. After the first term of her first year in High School, at age fourteen, she joined the military. She completed her military training in the summer between her first and second year and became a Second Lieutenant. Two years early, at age fifteen, she graduated from the academy with highest honors at the top of her class, with perfect grades across the board. At age sixteen her memories of both her life in the Second World and of the War Simulation were fully restored.

"General Kye Miyafuji has remained in the military, has was permanently appointed as General of the Allied Forces, and is the only person in the world that carries a Five-Star General rank. As the leader of the Allied Forces, she attends the world conferences held with the various leaders of the world's nations, including the three leaders of the three Neuri Tribes. There are times when she cannot be contacted. Only the other twelve Strike Witches and their friends who participated in the War Simulation know where she goes at those times.

"The Prodigal Witch Yoshika Miyafuji retired from the military as soon as the group returned from time travel in 1952 and remained retired after the War Simulation. She has become somewhat of a miracle worker with her ability to use True Zen to significantly improve her healing capacity. While she cannot treat everyone in the world, she is commonly called on to heal those that no other person can. She openly works with other healing witches to improve their abilities as well.

"Yoshika's first daughter, First Lieutenant Ayame Miyafuji, is the splitting image of Yoshika. She inherited her mother's overly powerful healing magic, and has made a reputation for herself as a power healer even without the True Zen ability. Just like several of the other daughters, Ayame has fallen in love. Yoshika ended up taking up my offer to change Ayame's DNA to make Toshiro her biological father. Ayame enrolled at the Yokosuka Witch Academy in 1954, completely her military training in the summer between terms in her third year in Middle School in 1963 at age fifteen before her birthday, and graduated from the academy in 1966 at age nineteen.

"Yoshika and Toshiro _Deuce_ even had a second daughter together, Akane Miyafuji II, named after my late mortal mother, Akane Miyafuji, who died in late 1953 while Yoshika was pregnant. The last thing my mortal mother Akane did was give her blessing to the expecting couple. The young Akane grew up to be the splitting image of Toshiro's mother, Akiko. Akane never joined the military, but enrolled at the Yokosuka Witch Academy a year early in 1958 at age five and became a respectable witch by age thirteen, having bested Nori Sakamoto in a duel and even came close to matching Kamiko. She graduated from the academy two years early, like Kamiko, in 1969 at age fifteen. Also like Kamiko, she graduated with perfect marks. She took over the Miyafuji Dojo earlier this year at age sixteen, intent on honoring her namesake. However, Akane inherited more than just her name from her great grandmother. She was the second mortal - that wasn't a rebirth of someone from the Light Kingdom - to be born with inherent Light Energy magic. Akane was frequently requested to teach classes at Mio Sakamoto's Yokosuka Witch Academy after her graduation."

* * *

"It seems all of them have adopted happy, peaceful lives."

"Yes, they have. And after everything they have been through, they deserve it."

"Didn't several of them already retire from the military before 1952?"

"Yes, actually, some of them did. However, during the time travel period, all of them returned to active duty, and this carried over when they returned to 1952. Most of them retired a second time, but a few still remain in the military."

"What about Toshiro and Aya? What happened to them after they returned to their timelines?"

"I'll tell you about Toshiro's story later, after the reunion today. I'm not just going to give you spoilers! And Aya's story hasn't happened yet. I changed the flow of time between our worlds a few years ago to bring them to the same date. It's April 5th, 1970 here, so it's April 5th, 1970 there. Aya is younger than you, Yuriko. Her adventure won't happen until 1983."

"I want to see it live, then!"

"Okay."

"So, what about you?"

"Me? Well, later today in the reunion I'm going to officially retire and move on. I know there's another question you're more curious about, so go ahead."

"Tell me, how did you create a whole universe for the alternate future timeline? Grandma Yami can't do that, and she's a goddess, too!"

The blonde, purple battle kimono clad goddess smiled at the young, white haired, question filled girl.

"Well, my young protégé, I am different than my younger sister."

"How different?"

"Just different. Now run along, Yuriko. Go say hi to your mother and grandmother for me."

"'Kay!" The girl vanished in the blink of an eye, soon to be replaced by an older white haired girl, or rather young woman, and a black haired young man.

"To what do I owe this honor, Yami and Zen?"

"We just wanted to drop by and see what you were up to," Yami said.

"Oh, I'm just watching the other Strike Witches. Your granddaughter asked how I created a whole universe for the alternate future timeline."

"A simple task for the all mighty Goddess of the Seven Stars," Zen said, half joking.

Kye laughed at Zen's response. "Indeed. I've also been watching two other worlds."

"Which ones?"

"One of Lord Adam's. Specifically the one that Toshiro an Aya live in. The other is one of our worlds."

"I see them on your holo-monitors," Yami said. "That looks like Yoshika and Lynne running laps on the runway at the Dover Base on the screen marked "Seven Stars World 27"."

"That's right. In this world, things happened a bit differently. None of us have ever visited this world, so the Miyafuji Family Line has different origins here. One thing remains unchanged, though."

"What's that?"

"Yoshika is just as gifted."

"She's something else," Zen said. "Shall we watch her save the world in this timeline as well?"

"The Neuroi Curse guy wants to see how the hero defeats the Neuroi?" Kye teased.

"You said none of us ever visited that world, so I didn't curse their Neuri Tribe."

"You're right," Kye said. "In this timeline, the Neuri Tribe and the Neuroi are two separate entities, rather than one being a cursed race of the other. They have nothing to do with each other."

"Interesting."

"I wonder what would happen in this timeline if I were to place a Kye Miyafuji there."

"You shouldn't," Yami said.

"Oh, but Yami, I'm curious!" Kye said. "I could make myself eighteen years old and perhaps an older cousin to Yoshika this time, instead of her aunt."

"Crafty, but you still shouldn't."

"I wonder..." Kye muttered. "Well... I could always do this!" She snapped her fingers and generated another holo-monitor marked. "I just made a copy of that world with an eighteen year old incarnation of myself."

"Did you really?!" Yami asked, surprised.

"Mhm. It's marked "Seven Stars World 98". See?"

"You're going to gimp your power just to satisfy your curiosity? I thought you said you would never put your worlds in danger like that..."

"Oh, don't worry, it's completely safe," Kye said. "The Primordial Goddess lets us Elder Gods make incarnations of ourselves now without us having to split our power."

"That would have been useful seventeen years ago."

"The Primordial Goddess wanted me to return to life as a mortal, so she didn't make it possible until recently. Even though that's possible now, she still won't let me make a mortal stand in of myself for Seven Stars World 1."

"You, Rei, and Kamiko are leaving that world after the reunion today anyway, right?"

"Yeah," Kye said. "I'll miss it, but it's time to move on, and Rei and Kamiko miss their family and friends from the Light Kingdom. Grandma Hatsumi wants to start grooming Kamiko for the throne, too."

"With you and Rei being gods, therefore unable to take the crown, it does fall on her shoulders next."

"Indeed."

"So what do you plan to tell the Strike Witches?" Zen asked. "You know they aren't going to take the news well."

"No, they won't," Kye said. "But they'll be coming to the Light Kingdom for our reunions from now on anyway. This will be the first reunion that every participant of the War Simulation, including the Azarans that were forced to fight as Neuroi, will attend. Of course, the immediate family of those participants will be attending as well."

"There's going to be a lot of people," Yami said. "It's year 2030 in the second world, so I the members of the 511th and 516th have families of their own now."

"Indeed. It's going to be a big gathering."

"What will you tell them when you announce that you won't be returning home with them this time?"

"I'll tell them that it's time to move on and for Rei and Kamiko to return to the Light Kingdom. Of course they'll be welcome to visit any time, but we won't be returning to their world anymore."

"What about the people of their world? You, Rei, and Kamiko are world famous there."

"I already submitted my retirement papers to the Fuso Navy and Allied Forces. The General of the Allied Forces rank will be split and given to both Minna and Mio. Minna's rank will be the Chief General and Mio's will be the General Adviser. Kye Miyafuji, Rei Miyafuji, and Kamiko Miyafuji will then disappear under the guise of traveling the world."

"You've thought it out."

"I considered having them reported dead, but that wouldn't make much sense. They are too powerful to die of natural causes beyond old age and there's nobody that has the ability to kill them, not that anyone would after Yoshika abolished all evil on the planet with her Zen Serenity."

"Having them _disappear_ is probably the best way," Zen said.

"Yeah," Kye mused. "Well, let's get going. It's almost time for the reunion."

* * *

**-A Timeless Legend-**

Over the years, even centuries later, the story of the Strike Witches is still told. They are heroes of two worlds. They have faded into legend, never to be forgotten. Their legacy lives on in the hearts of all.

* * *

**Appendix**

**Contents**  
Note: Control Find Codes are listed for ease of navigation between sections

Witch Characters (CFWitch)  
-501st JFW "The Strike Witches" (CF501)  
-Neuri Tribe Contingent (CFNTC)  
-Fuso Contingent (CFFC)  
-Karlsland Contingent (CFKC)  
-Light Kingdom Contingent (CFLKC)  
-511th Joint Fighter Wing "The Vast Witches" (CF511)  
-516th JFS "The Dark Witches" (CF516)

-Maya Group (CFMG)  
-Gods and Goddesses (CFGG)

Neuroi Characters (CFNeuroi)

Other Characters (CFOther)  
-Observing Only Characters (CFOOC)  
-Epilogue Only Characters (CFEOC)

Elder Gods (CFElder)

Techniques (CFTech0)  
-Japan/Fuso Techniques (CFTech1)  
-Germany/Karlsland Techniques (CFTech2)  
-America/Liberion and United Kingdom/Britannia Techniques (CFTech3)  
-Light Kingdom Techniques (CFTech4)  
-Drachenheim (Dragon Kingdom) Techniques (CFTech5)  
-God Techniques (CFTech6)  
-Elder God Techniques (CFTech7)

Spells (CFSpell)

Mind Reading (CFMind)

Inherent Abilities (CFInher)

Universes (CFWorld)

* * *

**Skill Level Key**

**Legend:** Peak Mortal Ability, only attained by those with extraordinary combat experience  
**Master:** Extremely Skilled, typical of veteran ace witches  
**Expert:** Highly Skilled , typical of veteran witches  
**Adept:** Skilled, minimum requirement Joint Fighter Wing assignment.  
**Moderate:** Somewhat Skilled, minimum requirement for active duty  
**Beginner:** Not Skilled, level of a witch trainee

Note: All characters have a minimum of "Adept" in any skill they use in combat.

* * *

**The Witch Forces (CFWitch)  
**(Note: All Ages are as of 5 April 1953 except where stated otherwise.)

**501st Joint Fighter Wing ****"****The Strike Witches****"**** (CF501)**

**Kye Miyafuji**  
-Champion of Elder Goddess Kye  
-Rank: General of the Allied Forces (5-Star)  
-Special Rank: Supreme Commander of the Joint Strike Force  
-Special Rank: Supreme Commander of the Witch Forces  
-Inherent Magic: Alignment Energy Magic (Zen, Light, Dark, Neutral)  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born 10 December 1917 – Age 35  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Yoshika Miyafuji  
**-Champion of Elder Goddess Kye  
-Rank: First Lieutenant  
-Inherent Magic: True Zen Magic, Healing Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 18 August 1929 – Age 23

**Toshiro Lucas von Edelweiss  
**-Champion of Elder God Adam (the Allgod)**  
**-Rank: Brigadier General (1-Star)  
-Karlsland Equivilent: Generalmajor  
-Special Rank: Deputy Commander of the Witch Forces  
-Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A, Time Dilution  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born: 5 May 1927 – Age 18 (His current year is 1945 in his timeline)

**Aya Edelweiss  
**-Champion of Elder God Adam (the Allgod)**  
**-Rank: First Lieutenant  
-Karlsland Equivilent: Oberleutnant  
-Member of the 777th Joint Fighter Wing in her universe  
-Temporarily assigned to the 501st during the War Simulation  
-Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A, Time Dilution, Healing Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born: 1 September 1965 – Age 17 (Her current year is 1983 in her timeline)

**Minna Dietlinde-Wickle (General / Lieutenant General)  
**-Rank: Lieutenant General  
-Karlsland Equivilent: General**  
**-501st Commanding Officer  
-Inherent Magic: Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born 11 March 1926 – Age 27

**Mio Sakamoto (Major General)  
**-501st Battle Commander  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Eye (Sakamoto Type)  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 26 August 1924 – Age 28

**Gertrude Barkhorn (Major / Major)  
**-Rank:  
-Karlsland Equivilent:  
-Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born 20 March 1926 – Age 27

**Erica Hartmann (Oberleutnant / First Lieutenant)  
**-Rank:  
-Karlsland Equivilent:  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born 19 April 1927 – Age 25

**Charlotte E. Yeager ****"****Shirley****"**** (Major)  
**-Rank:**  
**-Inherent Magic: Speed Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 13 February 1927 – Age 26

**Francesca Lucchini (First Lieutenant)  
**-Rank:  
-Inherent Magic: Sunlight Magic  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 24 December 1931 – Age 21

**Perrine H. Clostermann (Captain)  
**-Rank:  
-Inherent Magic: Lightning Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend (Specifically with Rapiers)  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 28 February 1929 – Age 24

**Lynette Bishop (First Lieutenant)  
**-Rank:  
-Inherent Magic: Ballistic Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 11 June 1929 – Age 23

**Eila Illmatar Juitilainen (Captain)  
**-Rank:  
-Inherent Magic: Foresight Magic  
-Other Magic: Bow Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born: 21 February 1928 – Age 25

**Aleksandra "Sanya" Vladimirovna Litvyak (Captain)  
**-Rank:  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend (Specifically with Maces)  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 18 August 1930 – Age 23

**Rei Miyafuji  
**-Rank: Second Lieutenant  
-Inherent Magic: Light Magic, Dark Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 1 September 1935 – Age 17  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Kamiko Miyafuji  
**-Rank: N/A  
-Temporary Member of the 501st  
-Inherent Magic: Light Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 17 February 1952 – Age 1  
-Special Note: Transformed into her sixteen year old self with complete knowledge and experience of her immortal self "Kamiko Akari", and her alternate timeline memories.

**Neuri Tribe Contingent (CFNTC)**

**_Blue Team_**

**Xala  
-**Leader of the Blue Neuri Tribe  
-Leader of the Blue Team  
-Formerly Leader of the Blue Neuroi  
-Gender: Female  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1900-1909

**Xelia  
**-One of Xala's Elite  
-Second in Command of the Blue Neuri Tribe  
-Formerly a member of the Blue Neuroi  
-Gender: Female  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**Xia  
**-One of Xala's Elite  
-Third in Command of the Blue Neuri Tribe  
-Formerly a member of the Blue Neuroi  
-Gender: Female  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**_Red Team_**

**Xale  
**-Leader of the Red Neuri Tribe  
-Leader of the Red Team  
-Formerly Leader of the Red Neuroi  
-Gender: Male  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1900-1909

**Xan  
**-One of Xale's Elite  
-Second in Command of the Red Neuri Tribe  
-Formerly a member of the Red Neuroi  
-Gender: Male  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**Xeal  
**-One of Xale's Elite  
-Third in Command of the Red Neuri Tribe  
-Formerly a member of the Red Neuroi  
-Gender: Male  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**_Green Team_**

**Xiani  
**-Leader of the Green Neuri Tribe  
-Leader of the Green Team  
-Gender: Female  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1900-1909

**Xelen  
**-One of Xiani's Elite  
-Second in Command of the Green Neuri Tribe  
-Gender: Male  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**Xilana  
**-One of Xiani's Elite  
-Third in Command of the Green Neuri Tribe  
-Gender: Female  
-Date of Birth estimated between 1910-1919

**Fuso Contingent ****(CFFC)**

**Ayaka Kuroe  
**-Rank: Major  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 17 February 1922  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Keiko Katou  
**-Rank: Major  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 31 October 1919  
-Inherent Magic: Super Vision  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Gun Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Takeko Katou  
**-Rank: Captain  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War**  
**-Born 28 September 1922  
-Inherent Magic: Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Tomoko Anabuki  
**-Rank: Captain  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 5 December 1923  
-Inherent Magic: Hakushoku Denkou (白色電光/White Lightning)  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Tetsuko Wakamoto  
**-Rank: Captain  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 14 June 1925  
-Inherent Magic: Awakening  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Junko Takei  
**-Rank: Captain  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 13 February 1926  
-Inherent Magic: Inspiration  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Yoshiko Nishizawa  
**-Rank: First Lieutenant  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 27 January 1926  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Fumika Kitagou  
**-Rank: Colonel  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 1 July 1918  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shields Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Karlsland Contingent (CFKC)**

**Ursula Hartmann  
**-Rank: First Lieutenant  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Oberleutnant  
-Status: Active Duty  
-Born 19 April 1927 – Age 25  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Note: Like her sister, Erica, Ursula's interest in rank is low. She has refused promotions and chosen to remain in research and development.

**Adolfine Galland  
**-Rank: General (4-Star)  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Generaloberst  
-Status: Active Duty  
-Born 19 March 1921 – Age 32  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Eye (Galland Type)  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master, Gun Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Hanna-Justina Marseille  
**-Rank: Major  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Major  
-Status: Active Duty  
-Promoted to Oberstleutnant / Lieutenant Colonel by 1965 (Retires)  
-Born 13 December 1927 – Age 25  
-Inherent Magic: Marseille Style Deflection Shooting  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend

**Raisa P****ö****ttgen  
**-Rank: First Lieutenant  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Oberleutnant  
-Status: Active Duty  
-Born 16 September 1929 – Age 23  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Note: Despite her continued efforts as Marseille's wingman, she has not been promoted. This is partially due to her lack of interest in rank and partially due to refusing a promotion at the end of the Second Neuroi War.

**Edytha Ro****ß****mann  
**-Rank: General (4-Star)  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Generaloberst  
-Status: Retired in 1952  
-Born 11 January 1925 – Age 28  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Note: Prior to her retirement, Edytha had a major hand in the construction of the Joint Strike Force base in Berlin, specifically in the witch training program. She also convinced Gertrude Barkhorn and Erica Hartmann to be instructors. She retired shortly after on a high note.

**Waltrud Krupinski  
**-Rank: Captain  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Hauptmann  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 11 November 1926 – Age 26  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Gundula Rall  
**-Rank: Colonel  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Oberst  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 10 March 1926 – Age 27  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Note: She received a promotion from Major to Colonel for her performance as Commander of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing at the end of the Second Neuroi War shortly before retiring.

**Heidemarie W. Schnaufer  
**-Rank: Brigadier General  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Generalmajor  
-Status: Active Duty  
-Born 16 February 1929 – Age 24  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna, Night Vision  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master, Gun Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Hanna U. Rudel  
**-Rank: Colonel  
-Karlsland Equivalent: Oberst  
-Status: Retired at the end of the Second Neuroi War  
-Born 2 July 192X – Age 2X  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Expert, Gun Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master

**Light Kingdom Contingent (CFLKC)**

**Kye Akari  
**-Goddess of the Seven Stars  
-Born 10 December 8028 BCE – Age 9980 (Physical 22)  
-Godly Magic: Divine True Zen  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 501st Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Light King Zen Akari I and God Queen Xera  
-Not an active participant in combat. Only the Mortal Kye fights.

**Rei Akari  
**-Goddess of Light Energy and Magic  
-Born 1 September 8008 BCE – Age 9960 (Physical 16)  
-Godly Magic: Divine Light  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 501st Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Kye Akari  
-Older Half Sister of Kaylie Maya and Layla Maya  
-Active participant as Rei Miyafuji

**Kamiko Akari  
**-Born 1 September 1912 – Age 39 (Physical 16)  
-Born 17 February 1952 – Age 1 (Kamiko Miyafuji)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Light  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 501st Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Rei Akari  
-Granddaughter of Kye Akari  
-Active participant as Kamiko Miyafuji

**Kaylie Maya (511th Fuso)  
**-Goddess of Time and Space  
-Born 2 October 8003 BCE – Age 9955 (Physical 18)  
-Godly Magic: Divine Time and Space  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 511th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Kye Akari  
-Younger Half Sister of Rei Akari  
-Identical Twin Sister of Layla Maya  
-Active participant as a member of the 511th Fuso Sector

**Layla Maya (511th Fuso)  
**-Goddess of Creation and Destruction  
-Born 2 October 8003 BCE – Age 9955 (Physical 18)  
-Godly Magic: Divine Creation and Destruction  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 511th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Kye Akari  
-Younger Half Sister of Rei Akari  
-Identical Twin Sister of Kaylie Maya  
-Active participant as a member of the 511th Fuso Sector

**Yami Akari  
**-Goddess of Neutral Energy and Magic  
-Born 12 December 8026 BCE – Age 9978 (Physical 22)  
-Godly Magic: Divine Magic  
-Inherent Magic (Mortal): Pure Neutral Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Legend, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Younger Sister of Kye Akari  
-Daughter of Light King Zen Akari I and God Queen Xera

**Yuko Akari (516th)  
**-Born 1 September 8005 BCE - 9957 (Physical 18)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Magic  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 516th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Yami Akari  
-Older Sister of Hiro Akari  
-Nephew of Kye Akari  
-Active participant as a member of the 516th Head Staff

**Hiro Akari  
**-Born 8 March 8003 BCE – Age 9956 (Physical 18)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Magic  
-Inherent Magic (Mortal): Pure Neutral Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Son of Yami Akari  
-Younger Brother of Hiro Akari  
-Nephew of Kye Akari

**Zen Akari II (516th)  
**-God of Dark Energy and Magic  
-Born 4 December 8027 BCE – Age 9979 (Physical 22)  
-Godly Magic: Divine Darkness  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 516th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Younger Brother of Kye Akari  
-Son of Light King Zen Akari I and God Queen Xera  
-Active participant as a member of the 516th Head Staff

**Ren Akari (516th)  
**-Born 5 November 8008 BCE – Age 9960 (Physical 18)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Blackfire Magic  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 516th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Daughter of Zen Akari II  
-Fraternal Twin Sister of Kenji Akari  
-Active participant as the leader of the 516th A Team

**Kenji Akari  
**-Born 5 November 8008 BCE – Age 9960 (Physical 18)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Darkness Magic  
-Inherent Magic (Mortal): Pure Darkness Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Son of Zen Akari II  
-Fraternal Twin Brother of Ren Akari  
-Nephew of Kye Akari

**Aira (516th)  
**-Born 29 June 8007 BCE – Age 9959 (Physical 18)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Darkwind Magic  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 516th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Fraternal Twin Sister of Aero  
-Friend and Teammate of Ren Akari  
-Active participant as a member of the 516th A Team

**Aero (516th)  
**-Born 29 June 8007 BCE – Age 9959 (Physical 18).  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Darkwind Magic  
-Mortal Magic: See Mortal Variant in 516th Section for Mortal Magic Stats  
-Fraternal Twin Brother of Aira  
-Friend and Teammate of Ren Akari  
-Active participant as a member of the 516th A Team

**Liliana Venturi ****"****Lily****"****  
**-Born 5 May 2029 BCE – Age 9981 (Physical 22)  
-Immortal Magic: Semi-Divine Holyfire magic, Telepathy, Space Magic  
-Inherent Magic (Mortal): Holyfire Magic, Telepathy, Space Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Older Sister of Aliana Venturi "Shadow"  
-Second Cousin of Kye Akari

**Aliana Venturi ****"****Shadow****"****  
**-Born 1 December 2028 BCE – Age 9980 (Physical 22)  
-Immortal Magic: Shadow Magic, Telepathy, Space Magic  
-Inherent Magic (Mortal): Shadow Magic, Telepathy, Space Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Younger Sister of Liliana Venturi  
-Second Cousin of Kye Akari

**511th Joint Fighter Wing "The Vast Witches" (CF511)  
**(Note: 511th ages are as of 5 April 2013)

**_511th Head Staff_**

**Isabel Hartmann II ****"****Bell****"**** (Major General)  
**-511th Head Commanding Officer  
-Born 14 October 1989 – Age 23  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Descendant of Erica Hartmann

**_511th European Sector_**

**Valterri Iilvari Virtanen (Colonel)  
**-511th European Commanding Officer  
-Born 21 November 1991 – Age 21  
-Inherent Magic: Foresight Magic  
-Other Magic: Bow Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Descendant of Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

**Rosalie Barkhorn ****"****Rose****"**** (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-511th European Battle Commander  
-Born 11 November 1993 – Age 20  
-Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Descendant of Gertrude Barkhorn "Trude"

**Charles Clostermann (Major)  
**-Born 15 November 1992 – Age 20  
-Inherent Magic: Lightning Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Descendant of Perrine H. Clostermann

**Vitaliy Gedeon Kistanov (Major)  
**-Born 2 April 1993 – Age 20  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Descendant of Sanya V. Litvyak

**Aleksandr Gavriil Kistanov ****"****Sasha****"**** (Captain)  
**-Born 4 January 1995 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Sanya V. Litvyak

**Caitlyn Bishop ****"****Cate****"**** (Captain)  
**-Born 15 January 1995 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Ballistic Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Older sister of Diana Bishop  
-Older cousin of James Bishop  
-Descendant of Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

**Diana Bishop (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 9 September 1995 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Ballistic Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger sister of Caitlyn Bishop  
-Cousin of James Bishop  
-Descendant of Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

**James Bishop (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 11 September 1995 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Ballistic Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger cousin of Caitlyn Bishop  
-Cousin of Diana Bishop  
-Descendant of Lynette Bishop "Lynne"

**Elizabeth Hartmann ****"****Lizzy****"**** (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 1 April 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Erica Hartmann

**Sophia Hartmann ****"****Sophie****"**** (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born: 1 April 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Erica Hartmann

**_511th Liberion Sector_**

**Lionhardt Barkhorn ****"****Lion****"**** (Colonel)  
**-511th Liberion Commanding Officer  
-Born 15 September 1991 – Age 21  
-Inherent Magic: Super Strength Type A  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Older Brother of Rosalie Barkhorn  
-Descendant of Gertrude Barkhorn "Trude"

**Allison Ventus ****"****Ally****"**** (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-511th Liberion Battle Commander  
-Born 26 October 1992 – Age 20  
-Inherent Magic: Speed Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Older Sister of Jaden Ventus  
-Descendant of Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

**Johan Wilcke (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-Born 19 August 1992 – Age 20  
-Inherent Magic: Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Older Brother of Alina Wilcke II  
-Descendant of Minna Dietlinde Wilcke

**Jaden Ventus (Captain)  
**-Born 13 September 1993 – Age 19  
-Inherent Magic: Speed Magic  
-Other Magic: Gun Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger Brother of Allison Ventus "Ally"  
-Descendant of Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

**Friedrich Hartmann ****"****Fried****"**** (Captain)  
**-Born 17 September 1993 – Age 19  
-Inherent Magic: Wind Magic  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger Brother of Isabel Hartmann II  
-Older Brother of Elizabeth Hartmann "Lizzy" and Sophia Hartmann  
-Descendant of Erica Hartmann

**Luciana Lucchini ****"****Lucy****"**** (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 18 November 1994 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Sunlight Magic  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Fraternal Twin Sister of Leonardo Lucchini "Leo"  
-Descendant of Francesca Lucchini

**Leonardo Lucchini ****"****Leo****"**** (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 18 November 1994 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Sunlight Magic  
-Other Magic: Unarmed Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Fraternal Twin Brother of Luciana Lucchini "Lucy"  
-Descendant of Francesca Lucchini

**Alina Wilcke II (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 11 March 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger Sister of Johan Wilcke  
-Descendant of Minna Dietlinde Wilcke

**Aleksandra Viktoriya Kistanov ****"****Tori****"**** (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 17 January 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Magic Antenna  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger Sister of Vitaliy Gedeon Kistanov and Aleksandr Gavriil Kistanov "Sasha"  
-Descendant of Sanya V. Litvyak

**Aina Inari Virtanen (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 21 November 1995 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Foresight  
-Other Magic: Bow Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Younger Sister of Valterri Iilvari Virtanen  
-Descendant of Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

**_511th Fuso Sector_**

**Yoshika Miyafuji II ****"****Yusu****"**** (Colonel)  
**-511th Fuso Commanding Officer  
-Inherent Magic: Healing Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 20 February 1992 – Age 21  
-Descendant of Yoshika Miyafuji

**Louise Clostermann III (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-511th Fuso Battle Commander  
-Inherent Magic: Lightning Magic, Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Born 16 February 1992 – Age 21  
-Descendant of Perrine H. Clostermann

**Mei Akiyama (Captain)  
**-Born 8 October 1994 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Fire Magic, Magic Eye (Sakamoto Type)  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Mio Sakamoto  
-Descendant of Perrine H. Clostermann  
-Descendant of Takeko Katou  
-Twin Sister of Kiyoko Akiyama

**Kiyoko Akiyama (Captain)  
**-Born 8 October 1994 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Water and Ice Magic, Area Analysis  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Mio Sakamoto  
-Descendant of Perrine H. Clostermann  
-Descendant of Takeko Katou  
-Twin Sister of Mei Akiyama

**Kaylie Maya (Captain)  
**-Inherent Magic: Time and Space Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Mortal Imprisonment (Former)  
-Immortal Seal (Current)  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Layla Maya (Captain)  
**-Inherent Magic: Creation and Destruction Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Master, Bow Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-Mortal Imprisonment (Former)  
-Immortal Seal (Current)  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Rika Miyafuji (Second Lieutenant)  
**-Born 28 December 1996 – Age 16  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Inherent Magic: Healing Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Yoshika Miyafuji  
-Younger Sister of Yoshika Miyafuji II "Yusu"  
-Fraternal Twin Sister of Haru Miyafuji

**Haru Miyafuji (Second Lieutenant)  
**-Born 28 December 1996 – Age 16  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Inherent Magic: Healing Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Yoshika Miyafuji  
-Younger Brother of Yoshika Miyafuji II "Yusu"  
-Fraternal Twin Brother of Rika Miyafuji

**Hitomi Kitagou (Second Lieutenant )  
**-Born 26 September 1996 – Age 16  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Fumika Kitagou

**Mako Takei (Second Lieutenant )  
**-Born 4 April 1997 – Age 16  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Inherent Magic: Inspiration  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Junko Takei

**Kazumi Wakamoto (Second Lieutenant )  
**-Born 22 December 1996 – Age 16  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Inherent Magic: Awakening  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Tetsuko Wakamoto

**516th Joint Fighter Wing ****"****The Dark Witches****"**** (CF516)**

**_516th Head Staff_**

**Zen Akari (4-Star General)  
**-516th Commanding Officer  
-Inherent Magic: Pure Darkness Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Master, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Yuko Akari (Colonel)  
**-516th Battle Commander  
-Inherent Magic: Pure Neutral Magic, Space Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**_516th A Team_**

**Ren Akari (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-516th A Team Leader  
-Inherent Magic: Blackfire Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Aira (Captain)  
**-Inherent Magic: Darkwind Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**Aero (Captain)  
**-Inherent Magic: Darkwind Magic  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Master  
-Firearms Proficiency: Master  
-See Light Kingdom Contingent for Immortal Variant

**_516th B Team (Ages as of 5 April 2013)_**

**Hairi Anabuki (Major)  
**-Born 11 September 1994 – Age 19  
-516th B Team Leader  
-Inherent Magic: Hakushoku Denkou (白色電光/White Lightning)  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Tomoko Anabuki  
-Older Sister of Hana Anabuki

**Hana Anabuki (Second Lieutenant)  
**-Born 7 January 1997 – Age 16  
-Inherent Magic: Hakushoku Denkou (白色電光/White Lightning)  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Expert  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Tomoko Anabuki  
-Younger Sister of Hairi Anabuki

**Momo Katou (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 26 August 1995 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Super Vision  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Keiko Katou  
-Older Sister of Nana Katou  
-Cousin of Aiko Katou and Eiko Katou

**Nana Katou (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 8 December 1996 – Age 16  
-Inherent Magic: Super Vision  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Keiko Katou  
-Younger Sister of Momo Katou  
-Cousin of Aiko Katou and Eiko Katou

**Yori Nishizawa (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 14 March 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Yoshiko Nishizawa  
-Younger sister of Nami Nishizawa

**_516th C Team (Ages as of 5 April 2013)_**

**Katsu Kuroe (Lieutenant Colonel)  
**-Born 3 September 1993 – Age 19  
-516th C Team Leader  
-Strongest Mortal Member of the 516th  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Legend  
-Descendant of Ayaka Kuroe  
-Older Sister of Kayo Kuroe

**Nami Nishizawa (Major)  
**-Born 10 October 1994 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Magic: Enhanced Shield Expert, Blade Spell Expert  
-Descendant of Yoshiko Nishizawa  
-Older Sister of Nami Nishizawa

**Aiko Katou (Captain)  
**-Born 1 January 1995 – Age 18  
-Inherent Magic: Super Vision  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Keiko Katou  
-Older Sister of Eiko Katou  
-Cousin of Mono Katou and Nana Katou

**Eiko Katou (First Lieutenant)  
**-Born 25 March 1996 – Age 17  
-Inherent Magic: Super Vision  
-Other Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Expert  
-Descendant of Keiko Katou  
-Younger Sister of Aiko Katou  
-Cousin of Momo Katou and Nana Katou

**Kayo Kuroe (Second Lieutenant)  
**-Born 4 November 1996 – Age 16  
-Inherent Magic: None Specified  
-Joined after the Third Neuroi War  
-Magic: Enhanced Shield Adept, Blade Spell Adept  
-Firearms Proficiency: Adept  
-Descendant of Ayaka Kuroe  
-Younger Sister of Katsu Kuroe

**Maya Group (CFMG)  
Note: For Doran and Michelle's Elder God variants, see the Elder God listings. Ariel and Adriel are not listed here because they participate only in weapon form.**

**Doran Maya**  
-Rank: N/A  
-Inherent Magic: Flames of Valor, Dragon Magic, Telekinetic Force  
-Other Magic: Rune Magic Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born: 28 May 23752 BCE - Age 25,704  
-Other info: Doran is not a witch/wizard and thus is not subjected to the usual "one or two" inherent magic limit as the witches. Although he has "Legend" status in Blade Spells and Firearms Proficiency, he rarely uses firearms and only uses Iltharion in longsword form when he fights seriously, which is extremely rare. The Flames of Valor is his signature blue fire and he is knowns as the most powerful mortal Fire Magic user in the Seven Stars. Despite his age, he is not a true immortal, rather he is "a mortal with immortal traits" - he is immune to diseases and does not age.  
-Elder God Variant: Being an Elder God, Doran has the ability to switch between his mortal body and Elder God body at will.

**Danielle Maya**  
-Rank: N/A  
-Inherent Magic: Waters of Chastity, Dragon Magic  
-Other Magic: Rune Magic, Unarmed Spell Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born: 28 May 23752 BCE - Age 25,704  
-Other info: Danielle is not a witch/wizard and thus is not subjected to the usual "one or two" inherent magic limit as the witches. Although she has "Legend" status in Unarmed Spells and Firearms Proficiency, she rarely uses either, preferring to use her katana and water spells. Her Waters of Chastity is her signature glowing blue water and she is known as the most powerful mortal Water Magic user in the Seven Stars. Despite her age, she is not a true immortal, rather she is "a mortal with immortal traits" - she is immune to diseases and does not age.

**Elizabeth Maya**  
-Rank: N/A  
-Inherent Magic: Lightning of Wrath, Dragon Magic  
-Other Magic: Rune Magic, Unarmed Spell Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born: 28 May 23752 BCE - Age 25,704  
-Other info: Elizabeth is not a witch/wizard and thus is not subjected to the usual "one or two" inherent magic limit as the witches. Although she has "Legend" status in Unarmed Spells and Firearms Proficiency, she rarely uses firearms or unarmed spells, preferring her katana and lightning magic. Her Lightning of Wrath is her signature dark blue lightning and she is known as the most powerful mortal Water Magic user in the Seven Stars. Despite having the Lightning of Wrath, she typically uses standard lightning (light blue), and only uses her Wrath Lightning when she's serious. Despite her age, she is not a true immortal, rather she is "a mortal with immortal traits" - she is immune to diseases and does not age.

**Michael Maya**  
-Rank: N/A  
-Inherent Magic: Earth of Courage, Dragon Magic  
-Other Magic: Rune Magic, Unarmed Spell Legend, Blade Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born: 28 May 23752 BCE - Age 25,704  
-Other info: Michael is not a witch/wizard and thus is not subjected to the usual "one or two" inherent magic limit as the witches. Although he has "Legend" status in Blade Spells and Firearms Proficiency, he rarely uses either, preferring unarmed spells and Earth Magic. His Earth of Courage is his signature glowing green water and he is known as the most powerful mortal Earth Magic user in the Seven Stars. Despite his age, he is not a true immortal, rather he is "a mortal with immortal traits" - he is immune to diseases and does not age.

**Michelle Maya**  
-Rank: N/A  
-Inherent Magic: Winds of Freedom, Dragon Magic, Telekinetic Force  
-Other Magic: Rune Magic Legend, Unarmed Spell Legend, Staff Spell Legend  
-Firearms Proficiency: Legend  
-Born: 28 May 23752 BCE - Age 25,704  
-Other info: Michelle is not a witch/wizard and thus is not subjected to the usual "one or two" inherent magic limit as the witches. Although she has "Legend" status in Unarmed Spells and Firearms Proficiency, she prefers to use her staff and wind magic. Her Winds of Freedom is her signature glowing white wind and she is known as the most powerful mortal Wind Magic user in the Seven Stars. Despite her age, she is not a true immortal, rather she is "a mortal with immortal traits" - she is immune to diseases and does not age.  
-Elder God Variant: Being an Elder God, Michelle has the ability to switch between her mortal body and Elder God body at will.

**Gods and Goddesses (CFGG)  
**

**Note: Only those not already listed are here. For Kye, Yami, Zen, Rei, Kaylie, and Layla, see their Light Kingdom listings. For Kye's Elder God variant, see the Elder God listings.**

**Lord Zalen  
**-Birthdate Unknown, Age Unknown  
-King of the Gods (Retired)  
-Maternal Grandfather of Kye Akari  
-Note: Only participated in the battle after the War Simulation concluded and defeated one of Mavet's Demons.

**Lady Xera  
**-Birthdate Unknown, Age Unknown  
-Queen of the Gods (Retired)  
-Mother of Kye Akari  
-Note: Only participated in the battle after the War Simulation concluded and defeated one of Mavet's Demons.

**Lady Zana  
**-Birthdate Unknown, Age Unknown  
-Goddess of War  
-Sister of Lady Xera  
-Aunt of Kye Akari  
-Note: Only participated in the battle after the War Simulation concluded and defeated one of Mavet's Demons.

**Lord Zanith  
**-Birthdate Unknown, Age Unknown  
-God of the Arcane  
-Brother of Lady Xera  
-Uncle of Kye Akari  
-Note: Only participated in the battle after the War Simulation concluded and defeated one of Mavet's Demons.

**Amaterasu  
**-Birthdate: Exact date unknown, Age estimated to be around 13 Billion.  
-Goddess of the Sun and Universe in Toshiro's Universe  
-Note: Only participated in the battle after the War Simulation concluded and defeated one of Mavet's Demons.

* * *

**Neuroi Forces**

**Neuroi Commanders**

**Lord Mavet  
**-Rank: Supreme Commander of the Neuroi Forces  
-Hive: Commanding Hive  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Eleven+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Later revealed to have never been a Neuroi

**Lord Marik  
**-Rank: High Commander  
-Hive: Southeast Hive  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Eleven  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Noble forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Malik  
**-Rank: High Commander  
-Base: Northeast Base  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Eleven  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Noble forced to fight for Mavet

**Lady Mavis  
**-Rank: High Commander  
-Hive: Northwest Hive  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Eleven  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Noble forced to fight for Mavet

**Lady Maris  
**-Rank: High Commander  
-Base: Southwest Base  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Eleven  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Queen of the Azarans, forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Makon  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Southeast Fort 1  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lady Maron  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Southeast Fort 2  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Maton  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Northeast Fort 1  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lady Mavon  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Northeast Fort 1  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lady Mabel  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Northwest Fort 1  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Makel  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Northwest Fort 1  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Matel  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Southwest Fort 1  
-Gender: Male  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Lord Mavel  
**-Rank: Commander  
-Fort: Southwest Fort 1  
-Gender: Female  
-Power Class: Ten+  
-Neuroi Type: Super Elite Humanoid  
-Note: Azaran Elite forced to fight for Mavet

**Greater Neuroi**

**9 Aerial Super-Carrier Neuroi (Class Ten) (****"****Collosal****"**** Type)  
**-5 at Commanding Hive  
-2 at each Hive

**12 Guardian Turtle Neuroi (Class Ten Ground-Only Neuroi)  
**-1 at each Base/Hive (In slumber underwater/underground until shit goes down)  
-1 at each Fortress (Underwater/Underground)

**9 Naval Super-Carrier Neuroi (Class Ten Naval Neuroi)  
**-5 at Commanding Hive  
-2 at each Base

**130,000 Total ****"****Soldier****"**** Neuroi Forces**

**3000 Humanoid Neuroi Soldiers  
**-500 Humanoid Neuroi Soldiers (Class Eight)  
-2500 Humanoid Neuroi Soldiers (Class Seven)

**_77000 Non-Humanoid Forces_**

**77,000 Flying Types  
**-500 Super Battleship Neuroi (Class Eight) ("Multi-Core Super-Large" Type)  
-1500 Battleship Neuroi (Class Seven) ("Single-Core Super-Large" Type)  
-5000 Large-Type Neuroi (Class Five-Six)  
-20000 Medium-Type Neuroi (Class Three-Four)  
-50000 Small-Type Neuroi (Class One-Two)

**33,000 Ground Types  
-**3000 Giant Turtle Neuroi (Class Six Ground-Only Neuroi)  
-30000 Turtle Neuroi (Class Three Ground-Only Neuroi)

**17000 Naval Types  
**-200 Super Destroyer Neuroi (Class Eight Naval) ("Multi-Core Super-Large" Naval Type)  
-450 Aegis Neuroi (Class Seven Naval) ("Floating Barrier" Small Naval Type)  
-700 Destroyer Neuroi (Class Seven Naval) ("Single-Core Super-Large" Naval Type)  
-1100 Frigate Neuroi (Class Six Naval) (Naval Large Type)  
-2600 Cruiser Neuroi (Class Four Naval) (Naval Medium Type)  
-10000 Missile Boat Neuroi (Class Two Naval) (Naval Medium Type)  
-300 Submarine Neuroi (Class Seven Naval) ("Neuroi Sub" Naval Large Type)  
-16500 Mini-Submarine Neuroi (Class Five Naval) ("Neuroi Mini-Sub" Naval Medium Type)

**Commanding Hive Forces**

**Lady Maeve**  
-Weapon Name: Armageddon, Whisper of Chaos  
-Hive: Commanding Hive  
-Note: Does not directly participate, instead is wielded by Mavet.

**Lady Maia  
**-Goddess of Chaos (In Her Home Universe)  
-Champion of Elder God Mavet  
-Hive: Commanding Hive  
-Note: Participates only in one fight versus Toshiro and Aya.

**Lord Makai  
**-Weapon Name: Cataclysm, Song of Chaos  
-Hive: Commanding Hive  
-Note: Does not directly participate, instead is wielded by Mavet.

**Commanding Hive Neuroi  
-**11 Super Elite Humanoid (One in Hive, One in each Fort)  
-Over 10 Colossal Type Neuroi (Aerial Super-Carriers)  
-10,000 of the original 130,000 were detected from inside the barrier  
-50,000 more that could not be detected from insider the barrier

* * *

**Other Characters (CFOther)**

**Observing Only Characters (CFOOC)**

**Aleksandra I. Pokryshkin  
**-Born 6 March 1928 – Age 25  
-Member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing

**Goergette Lemare  
**-Born 16 November 1927 – Age 25  
-Member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing

**Naoe Kanno  
**-Born 23 September 1929 – Age 24  
-Member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing

**Nikka Edvardine Katajainen  
**-Born 21 May 1929 – Age 24  
-Member of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing

**Sadako Shimohara  
**-Born 7 May 1927 – Age 26  
-Member of the 31st Joint Fighter Squadron

**Mami Inagaki  
**-Born 14 February 1928 – Age 25  
-Member of the 31st Joint Fighter Squadron

**Furuko Kitano  
**-Birthdate Unknown (Est between 1925 and 1930)  
-Member of the 31st Joint Fighter Squadron

**Ayame Miyafuji  
**-Born 7 October 1947 – Age 5  
-Daughter of: Yoshika Miyafuji (DNA later changed to add Toshiro "Deuce" as the father)

**Nori Sakamoto  
**-Born 26 July 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Mio Sakamoto

**Alina Wilcke I  
**-Born 11 June 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Minna Dietlinde-Wilcke

**Sieglinde Barkhorn ****"****Linda****"****  
**-Born 20 May 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Gertrude Barkhorn

**Isabel Hartmann I ****"****Bell****"****  
**-Born 19 September 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Erica Hartmann

**Allison Yeager ****"****Ally****"****  
**-Born 26 October 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Charlotte E. Yeager "Shirley"

**Luciana Lucchini I  
**-Born 18 November 1949 – Age 3  
-Daughter of: Francesca Lucchini

**Louise H. Clostermann I  
**-Born 16 February 1947 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Perrine H. Clostermann

**Diana Bishop I  
**-Born 5 May 1947 – Age 5  
-Daughter of: Lynette Bishop

**Anastasiya Viktoriya Litvyak ****"****Anna****"****  
**-Born 16 December 1947 – Age 5  
-Daughter of: Aleksandra Vladmirovna Litvyak "Sanya"

**Aina Ilmatar Juutilainen  
**-Born 21 November 1946 – Age 6  
-Daughter of: Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen

**Epilogue Only Characters (CFEOC)**

**Akane Miyafuji  
**-Born 15 May 1954  
-Daughter of: Yoshika Miyafuji and Toshiro "Deuce"

**Amelia Barkhorn  
**-Born 20 June 1958  
-Daughter of : Christiane Barkhorn

**Irma Hartmann  
**-Born 5 September 1947  
-Daughter of: Ursula Hartmann

* * *

**Elder Gods (CFElder)**

**The Primordial Goddess  
**-Progenitor of Existence and Creator of the Elder Gods  
-Possesses Omnipotence and Omniscience

**Lady Kye**  
-Strongest Elder God  
-Possesses True Zen  
-Returned to power after merge of Kye Miyafuji and Kye Akari

**Lady Joey  
**-Weapon Name: Jouten, Heavenly Blade of the Gods  
-Second Strongest Elder God  
-Possesses True Zen  
-Returned to power after merge of Kye Miyafuji and Kye Akari

**Lord Phantom  
**-The Destroyer  
-Third Strongest Elder God  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Unnamed Weapon Partner of Phantom**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Lord Adam  
**-The Allgod  
-Possesses Celestial Order  
-Extremely Weakened, Not Combat Capable  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Lady Livy**  
-Weapon Name: Oblivion Lost, Blade of the Allgod  
-Possesses Celestial Order  
-Somewhat Weakened due to her connection to Lord Adam  
-Actively fights at mortal level and is frequently wielded by Toshiro

**Lord Mavet  
**-The Bringer of Chaos  
-Possesses Celestial Chaos  
-Leader of the Neuroi Faction, see listing in Neuroi Forces for details

**Lady Maeve**  
-Weapon Name: Armageddon, the Whisper of Chaos  
-Possesses Celestial Chaos  
-Consort of Lord Mavet  
-See listing in Neuroi Forces for relevant details

**Lord Doran**  
-Possesses Telekinetic Force  
-Actively fights at mortal level, see Maya Group listing for details

**Lady Ariel**  
-Weapon Name: Iltharion, the Unending Rings  
-Possesses Telekinetic Force  
-Actively fights as Doran's weapon

**Lady Michelle**  
-Possesses Telekinetic Force  
-Actively fights at mortal level, see Maya Group listing for details

**Lord Adriel**  
-Weapon Name: Eskalion, Staff of Eternity  
-Possesses Telekinetic Force  
-Actively fights as Michelle's weapon

**Lady Eliana  
**-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Unnamed Weapon Partner of Lady Eliana**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Lord Elias**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Unnamed Weapon Partner of Lord Elias**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Lady Katriel**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Unnamed Weapon Partner of Lady Katriel**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Lord Kadmiel**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

**Unnamed Weapon Partner of Lord Kadmiel**  
-Only Observes the War Simulation and Mavet Conflict

* * *

**Techniques (CFTech0)**

**Japan/Fuso Techniques (CFTech1)**

**Reppuzan** (烈風斬, Gale Slash) – A powerful blade spell passed down among Fusojin witches since time immemorial. It has the power to bisect large Neuroi and annihilate their core. The technique can be truly devastating in the hands of powerful witches, such as Mio Sakamoto and Yoshika Miyafuji. Can be performed by any Fuso Blade Spell Adept.

**Full-Power Reppuzan **– A symbol of a witch's mastery of the Reppuzan. This technique was previously believed to be the legendary "Shin Reppuzan" technique, but later proved otherwise. This technique is much more powerful than the Reppuzan, and can only be mastered by experienced witches through arduous training to take the Reppuzan to a state beyond. Can be perform by any Fuso Blade Spell Expert.

**Zen Reppuzan **(全烈風 斬, Zen Gale Slash, Lit: Complete Gale Slash) – This technique is also known as the legendary "Shin Reppuzan". Only those with a pure heart may call upon the Zen Reppuzan. This technique far surpasses the Reppuzan and Full-Power Reppuzan. Can be performed by any Fuso Blade Spell Master.

**Reppu Genkotsu **(烈風拳骨, Gale Fist) – A powerful unarmed strike based off the Reppuzan technique. It has similar power but is only useable in close combat. The user focuses their magic energy into their fist to increase the power of their unarmed strikes. This technique can also be used as a snapshot defense to avoid resorting to a shield, which requires more time to recover after blocking an attack. The power of this technique varies; it can be used at the level of the standard Reppuzan or as high as the Full-Power Reppuzan. This technique was developed by Mio Sakamoto and is usable by any Fuso Blade Spell Expert.

**Reppu Zoukyou** (烈風増強, Gale Augment) – A powerful augmentation technique based off the Reppuzan and Energy Projection techniques. The user focuses their magic into their blade, but instead of launching the attack as a proper Reppuzan, the user keeps the energy in the blade to drastically increase its effectiveness. Similar to the Reppu Genkotsu, this technique can be used at different levels, ranging from the standard Reppuzan up to the Full-Power Reppuzan. This technique was developed by Mio Sakamoto and is usable by any Fuso Blade Spell Expert.

**Kakusei: Tsurugi no Sora **(覚 醒: つるぎの空, Awakening: Sword of the Sky) – A powerful blade spell unique to witches possessing Awakening Magic. This technique is launched from above the target. As the user approaches the target, the stab downward using their Awakening Magic to greatly augment the force of their blade, allowing them to easily pierce their target. This technique is powerful enough for a younger witch to pierce completely through a colossal type Neuroi and destroy its core that was comprised of seven smaller cores merged together. This technique was invented by Tetsuko Wakamoto and taught to her descendant, Kazumi Wakamoto, during the War Simulation.

**Attou Suto **(圧 倒スト, Overwhelming Strike) – An advanced technique created by Aya Edelweiss. This attack incorporates the incredible power of her Overdrive Aura, and can only be used with such. Its power is greater than that of the Zen Reppuzan. Both variants of this technique are unique to Aya Edelweiss.  
-**Saisho****Sutairu** (最初スタイル, First Style) - Aya can use this technique to launch a blast of energy similar to the Reppuzan.  
-**Daini Sutairu** (第二スタイル, Second Style) - Aya can hold the power in her blade to augment its power similar to the Reppu Zoukyou.

**Germany/Karlsland Techniques (CFTech2)**

**Todesschlag** (Death Strike) – Karlslander point blank melee technique. Can be used with any melee weapon or with fists, assuming appropriate practice. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Unarmed Spell or Blade Spell Adept.

**Dreifach Todesschlag** (Triple Death Strike) – Karlslander point blank melee technique. Can be used with any melee weapon or with fists. This variation requires three people to execute and delivers not only three Todesschlag attacks at once, but from three different directions. As the technique is executed, if done properly, the potency of each attack will be increased by each other by resonating together. The force of this technique is far greater than three independent Todesschlag attacks and even surpasses the Großer Trümmerschlag, Großer Zauberschlag, and the Zen Reppuzan techniques. This technique was developed by and is unique to the Karlslander Trio: Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, Gertrude Barkhorn, and Erica Hartmann.

**Tr****ü****mmerschlag** (Shattering Impact) – A technique unique to witches and wizards with inherent Super Strength Type A magic. This technique was developed by Gertrude Barkhorn from a technique, "Power Strike", that she first used in the alternate timeline in 2012. This technique incorporates the user's Super Strength magic with the Todesschlag technique. This technique was formerly the most powerful hand to hand technique until Gertrude Barkhorn completed development of the Großer Trümmerschlag technique. This technique is usable by any Unarmed Spell Expert that possesses Super Strength Type A magic.

**Gro****ß****er**** Tr****ü****mmerschlag **(Greater Shattering Impact) – A technique unique to witches and wizards with inherent Super Strength Type A magic. This technique was developed by Gertrude Barkhorn and completed sometime during the War Simulation before April 26th. This technique, as its name suggests, is an improved version of the Trümmerschlag. This technique is usable by any Unarmed Spell Master that possesses Super Strength Type A magic.

**Teilung Schlag (**Sundering Blow) – Karlslander long range hand to hand technique. Can only be used unarmed. This technique is usable by any Unarmed Spell Adept.

**Luftdruck Faust **(Air Pressure Fist) – Karlslander long range unarmed technique. Based on the Teilung Schlag technique and developed by and unique to Lionhardt Barkhorn. The user throws a fast, powerful punch toward the target and uses their magic to super compress the air displaced by their punch, saturate it with magic, and launch it forward at their target. Lion taught this technique to Friedrich Hartmann, who developed a Blade Spell variant.

**Luftdruck Schlag** (Air Pressure Strike) – Karlslander long range blade technique. Derived by Friedrich Hartmann after being taught the Luftdruck Faust technique by Lion. The technique works exactly the same except that it is performed with the pummel of his glaive instead of with his fist. This technique is unique to Friedrich Hartmann.

**Donnerschlag** (Thunderclap) – Karlslander short range unarmed technique unique to those with Super Strength Type A magic. The user claps their hands together with a force powerful enough to generate a shockwave, which they amplify with their magic. The downside of this technique is that it also knocks the user back. Trude developed the technique, but doesn't like it yet, stating that she is still trying to figure out how to avoid knocking herself back when she uses it. This technique is incomplete and currently unique to Gertrude Barkhorn, who intends to pass on the technique once she perfects it.

**Zauberschlag** (Magic Strike) – Karlslander long range magic discharge Blade Spell technique. This technique is the Karlslander equivalent to the Fusojin Reppuzan, and is comparable in power to the Full-Power variant. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Expert.

**Gro****ß****er Zauberschlag **(Greater Magic Strike) – Karlslander long range magic discharge Blade Spell technique. This technique is the Karlslander equivalent to the Fusojin Zen Reppuzan. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Master.

**Zauberstrahl **(Magic Beam) – Karlslander long range magic discharge technique. This technique does not require a weapon, though one can be used as a catalyst to cast it more quickly. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Unarmed or Blade Spell Expert.

**Gro****ß****er Zauberstrahl **(Greater Magic Beam) – Karlslander long range magic discharge technique. This technique does not require a weapon, though one can be used as a catalyst to cast it more quickly. This technique is the Zauberstrahl equivalent of the Großer Zauberschlag technique. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Unarmed or Blade Spell Master.

**Gegenschlag** (Backlash) – Karlslander technique that allows one to absorb an incoming blast of magic, add their own power on top of it, and send it back to the source. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Expert.

**Gro****ß****er Gegenschlag** (Greater Backlash) – The improved version of the Karlslander technique "Gegenschlag" which allows one to absorb an incoming blast of magic, add their own power on top of it, and send it back to the source. This version allows the user to drawn in multiple incoming magic or energy blasts and reverse all of them in a single attack. Minna later performed the technique as well, but instead of reversing the multiple incoming blasts as one large single attack, she rebounded all of them as individual attacks while still adding her own power on top of each. This technique is comparable to the Großer Zauberschlag and Zen Reppuzan, is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Master, and is a signature technique if Isabel Hartmann II.

**Vernichtung** (Obliteration) – A powerful blunt force Karlslander technique used primarily by Sanya Litvyak. The technique is executed virtually identically to the Fusojin technique "Reppu Zoukyou" employed by Mio Sakamoto, where the user charges their weapon with magic and hits their target direction, instead of launching a wave of magic from the weapon. However, with Vernichtung being a blunt force technique, the results are different. Where the Reppu Zoukyou allows the user to cut through significantly stronger targets, the Vernichtung doesn't cut into the target but rather disperses the power throughout the target and obliterates it, thus the translation "Obliteration". This technique is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Expert.

**Gro****ß****er Vernichtung** (Greater Obliteration) – A more powerful version of the Vernichtung technique and is comparable to the Großer Zauberschlag and Zen Reppuzan techniques. This technique is usable by any Karlslander Blade Spell Master, and is a signature technique of Sanya V. Litvyak.

**Sturmkraft Brecher **(Storm Power Break) – Karlslander multi-combination magic discharge technique. Requires several users to execute. Users launch the attack to a central target to deal massive damage or be very showy. This technique is unique to the members of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches.  
-**Demonstration Variant** – Users discharge magic blasts from their weapons or fists at a central point to be showy.  
**-Combat Variant** – Users discharge beams of magic toward their target to initially immobilize them, then pour the full force of their magic into the beam all at once to eliminate the target in a resulting explosion.

**W****ä****rmestrahl** (Heat Beam) – Developed by Lucchini with the help of her Karlslander comrades. Based on the Karlslander Zauberstrahl technique. This technique is almost identical to the Zauberstrahl with the exception that it incorporates Lucchini's Sunlight Magic. This technique is somewhat more powerful than the Zauberstrahl. Toshiro's variant uses his Sacred Flame, but produces the same result. This technique is unique to Francesca Lucchini and Toshiro Edelweiss.

**Gro****ß****er W****ä****rmestrahl **(Greater Heat Beam) – Developed jointly by Lucchini and Toshiro after Lucchini taught the Wärmestrahl technique to Toshiro. The two worked on the technique together after mastering the improved version of the Zauberstrahl, the Großer Zauberstrahl. As with the Zauberstrahl and Wärmestrahl, this technique is proportionally more powerful than the Großer Zauberstrah. This technique is unique to Francesca Lucchini and Toshiro Edelweiss.

**America/Liberion and United Kingdom/Britannia Techniques (CFTech3)**

**Power Shot **– A Gun Spell that imbues a single round with magical power. The technique has power comparable to a Full-Power Reppuzan. Developed by Gun Spell prodigy Caitlyn Bishop to be usable by any Witch or Wizard without requiring one to have Ballistic Magic. This technique is usable by any Gun Spell Adept.

**Burst Shot** – A Gun Spell that imbues three rounds with magical power. Designed to be a three round burst variant of the Power Shot, this technique fires three rounds with an overall power rating comparable to a Full-Power Reppuzan. Developed by Gun Spell prodigy Caitlyn Bishop to be usable by any Witch or Wizard without requiring one to have Ballistic Magic. This technique is usable by any Gun Spell Adept.

**Rapid Fire** – A Gun Spell that imbues an entire magazine or drum with magical power. A one hundred round drum can be shot in under five seconds with this technique, and each shot carries power comparable to a standard Reppuzan. Due to the large amount of shots fired with this technique, it is particularly draining on the user's magic power. Developed by Gun Spell prodigy Caitlyn Bishop to be usable by any Witch or Wizard without requiring one to have Ballistic Magic. This spell is usable by any Gun Spell Master.

**Speed Breaker **– A Gun Spell requiring a special round previously imbued with magic. The user manually insert the round into their chamber and imbues it with even more magic. The round is fired with a muzzle velocity of five thousand meters per second and carries power comparable to the Zen Reppuzan. Developed by Allison Ventus with assistance from Caitlyn Bishop and requires the user to possess either Speed Magic or Ballistic Magic to augment the speed of the bullet.

**Ballistic Barrage** – A Gun Spell designed to be used specifically with large quantity drum magazines (100+) or belt fed guns. When used, each round fired is imbued with power comparable to the standard Reppuzan. Due to the large amount of shots fired with this technique, it is very draining on the user's magic power, and even moreso because of the requirement to consciously control each shot with Ballistic Magic. Developed by Gun Spell prodigy Caitlyn Bishop toward the end of the War Simulation and requires Ballistic Magic. This technique is unique to the Bishop Family.

**Light Kingdom Techniques (CFTech4)**

**Mahousen** 魔法線, Ray of Magic, Lit: magic line) – A simpler variant of the godly technique, Mahou Shinten Taiho, that takes much less expertise and power to employ. Usable by anyone capable of Neutral Energy/Raw Magic techniques

**Kousen** (光線, Ray of Light, Lit: light ray) – A powerful light magic beam attack, a staple to any user of light magic. Usable by those who specialize in Light Energy/Light Magic techniques.  
-**Modify: Keikei** (Modify: 炯炯, Modify: Piercing) – An augmentation for Kousen that gives it the ability to easily pierce through multiple targets.  
-**Modify: Kibaku** (Modify: 起爆, Modify: Exploding) – An augmentation for Kousen that gives it the ability to explode when hitting a target. With the Keikei augmentation, the Kousen will explode and continue through to another target.  
-**Modify: Bunkatsu** (Modify: 分割, Modify: Splitting) – An augmentation for Kousen that gives it the ability to split off two smaller light beams. When used with Keikei, the Kousen will split off two smaller light beams inside a target as it passes through. When used with both Keikei and Kibaku, the Kousen will split off two smaller light beams that explode inside a target as it passes through.  
-**Modify: Sanjuu **(Modify: 三重, Modify: Triplicate) – An augmentation for Kousen that allows the user to launch three simultaneously Kousen attacks. Sanjuu can be repeated as many times as the user wants for exponential effects (eg: the first fires three, the second fires nine, the third fires twenty seven) so long as the user has enough power. It is ill advised for a user to attempt more than two Sanjuu augmentations at once due to the immense strain that will be placed on the user at three or more.

**Light Darts** – A light magic technique where the user spawns a selective number of darts, which can number in the hundreds, and fires them at the enemy. Usable by anyone capable of Light Energy/Light Magic techniques.

**Nova Techniques** – Powerful techniques where the user forms a ball of compressed magic and throws it at a target, afterwhich it violently explodes. These techniques are based on the real Light Nova technique, which is one of the Seven Primordial Techniques taught to Kye by the Primordial Goddess. These techniques are usable by anyone capable of Light Energy, Dark Energy, or Neutral Energy, respectively, or by mortals with Light Magic, Dark Magic, or Raw Magic, respectively.  
-**Light Nova** – Light Energy/Light Magic variant.  
**-Dark Nova** – Dark Energy/Dark Magic variant.  
-**Magic Nova **– Neutral Energy/Raw Magic variant.

**Void Bomb** – A powerful shadow magic technique where the user holds their arms outward and wills an omnidirectional wave of shadow magic outward. This wave will vaporize anything caught in the blast. This technique is unique to Shadow.

**Seiken** (聖なる剣, Holy Sword) – Light Magic Energy technique developed by Princess Rei Akari. The technique launches a powerful, but small blast of light energy from the user's sword at high-speed. The blast can easily exceed the speed of sound. Once it arrives at its destination, the user remotely detonates the blast, causing a powerful explosion consisting of a shockwave and light energy. Rei Akari only taught this technique to her daughter, Princess Kamiko Akari. Both are able to employ the technique in their mortal bodies as Rei Miyafuji and Kamiko Miyafuji.

**Seiken no Choushinsei **(聖 剣の超新星, Super Nova of the Holy Sword) – A vastly improved version of the Seiken technique. This technique is so far and away more powerful than the Seiken technique, that if cast by a mortal, it requires the usages of the Awakened State. This technique is more powerful than the Zen Reppuzan. This technique was developed by Princess Rei Akari and taught only to her daughter, Princess Kamiko Akari. Both are able to employ the technique in their mortal bodies as Rei Miyafuji and Kamiko Miyafuji.

**Seiken: Heikou Suto** (聖剣：並行スト, Holy Sword: Parallel Strike) – A technique that can only be performed by two masters of the Holy Sword substyle of the Divine Light Style. This technique requires two people and is a Battojutsu (sword drawing technique). If performed by mortals, both must be using the ultimate level Light Aura. This technique carries comparable power to the Seiken no Choushinsei in each user, effectively doubling the power, but the drawback is that both users must be in perfect sync or risk a backfire and must also be in melee range, because: similar to the Reppu Zoukyou, this technique augments the users' swords instead of launching a magic discharge from the swords. This technique was developed by Princess Rei Akari and taught only to her daughter, Princess Kamiko Akari. Both are able to employ the technique in their mortal bodies as Rei Miyafuji and Kamiko Miyafuji.

**Taihen Mahou no Bouheki **(大 変魔法の防壁, Barrier of Great Magic) – A highly advanced Pure Magic Energy defensive technique developed by Princess Yami Akari. This technique erects an enormous shield that can be modified by additional spells. Modification spells include Kyouka (強化, Enhancement) and Gyakuten (逆転, Reversal). This technique is usable by any Divine Light Style Expert capable of Neutral Energy/Raw Magic techniques.

**Holy Blaze **– A powerful Holy Flame technique where the user launches a strong wave of holy flames at the target or targets. Liliana will frequently use this technique as a distraction when faced with a large group of enemies to better execute the Kiru Ichiren technique. This technique was developed by Liliana Venturi and is usable by any veteran Holyfire Magic user.

**Kiru Ichiren **(キル 一連, Kill Series) – An advanced technique belonging to the Kami Hikari-ryu, or Divine Light Style. The user teleports between their targets, killing them each a single slash each. This technique requires the user to be proficient with the Space Magic spell "Teleport". This technique was developed by and is a signature technique of Liliana Venturi, and is usable by any Divine Light Style Master capable of Space Magic techniques.

**Kami Katto **(神 カット, God Cut) – This Technique is similar to the Reppuzan, but launches a powerful wave of light energy. The mortal version used by witches is comparable to the Zen Reppuzan, but the real version that was created by Kye Akari of the Light Kingdom has massive destructive power rivaling that of the Senkou Suto technique. In the hands of the mortal Kye Miyafuji, the mortal version of this technique can carry greater power than the Zen Reppuzan. This technique is usable by any Divine Light Master capable of Light Energy/Light Magic techniques.

**Makai Ken** (魔界剣, Devil Sword) – This technique is similar to the Reppuzan, and is the dark energy counterpart of the Kami Katto. A mortal version can be used by witches and wizards and is comparable to the Zen Reppuzan. Similar to the Kami Katto, the original version of this technique, created by Zen Akari Jr of the Light Kingdom, carries massive destruction potential rivaling that of the Senkou Suto technique. The mortal version used by its creater, Zen Akari Jr (while in a mortal body) carries greater power than the Zen Reppuzan. This technique is usable by any Divine Light Master capable of Dark Energy/Dark Magic techniques.

**Shitsunen no Tsurugi **(失念のつるぎ, Blade of Oblivion, literally "Sword of Forgetting") – More often than not, users of this technique will speak its English name over its original name. This technique is a very devastating technique, not for its power, but for its effect. This technique is only available to those with Telepathic abilities, and is able to destroy the mind of its target for an amount of time relative to the power put into the attack. At higher power, this attack can permanently damage or outright destroy its target's Nervous System. At its best, this technique can completely wipe out a person's brain, thus reducing the target to nothing but an empty shell. This technique was developed by the Venturi Sisters, Liliana and Aliana (Shadow). This technique has been deemed extremely dangerous and its use only permissible under extreme circumstances. As Liliana and Aliana are the only two with true Telepathic abilities, they are the only two with the capacity to employ the technique.

**Spinning Dragon** – This technique, despite being developed in the Realm of Light, does not have a Japanese/Fusojin name. This is a dual wield technique that belongs to the Twin Dragon substyle of the Divine Light Style. The user spins rapidly and launches many blasts of energy or magic outward toward targets that are surrounding the user. This technique was developed by Princess Rei Akari, who later, as Rei Miyafuji, taught it to Toshiro.

**Dance of Death** – This technique is a very advanced dual wield technique developed by Princess Rei Akari that belongs to the Twin Dragon substyle of the Divine Light Style. Like the Spinning Dragon technique, Death of Death does not have a Japanese/Fusojin name. There are two variants of this technique, listed below. If the user says the name of the technique, they will say "Dance of Dance" regardless of which variant they employ. Both variants were developed by Princess Rei Akari, who can still use them in her mortal body as Rei Miyafuji.  
-**Death****'****s Dance: Multiple Dance** – The user executes any step of the Death Dance against any number of targets. Rei taught this version of the technique to Toshiro Edelweiss.  
**-Death****'****s Dance: Single Dance** – The user executes each step in order against a single opponent. This version of the technique is unique to Rei.  
+-**First step**: The user dodges left and strikes with their left hand blade against the target's side.  
+-**Second step**: The user spins around with the momentum of the first strike and strikes with their right hand blade across the target's back.  
+-**Third step**: The user performs a reverse dive upside down, twists clockwise slightly, and strikes with their left hand blade against the target's right side. (Due to how the technique is performed, the opponent is likely to perform a horizontal sweeping attack toward the user. This step allows the user to dodge such an attack without interrupting the dance.)  
+-**Fourth step**: The user twists further clockwise and brings their right hand blade across the target's stomach. (If the opponent attacks during this step, it is modified to redirect the opponent's attack and force them into striking his/herself.)  
+-**Fifth step**: The user continues to twist clockwise until upside down as they move around toward the front of the opponent while simultaneously flipping backward. With the momentum of the flip, the user holds their left hand blade firmly and strikes across the opponent's chest with the user landing facing away from the opponent and their left hand blade over their head.  
+-**Final step**: The user, still holding their left hand blade up, they twist around clockwise and bring their right hand blade up across the user's chest while simultaneously executing the Death's Dance: Grand Finale technique.  
+**-Death****'****s Dance: Grand Finale **– This technique is the finishing move accompanied with the Death's Dance: Single Dance. Executed with the Final Step, the user empowered their right hand blade and strikes the opponent with a powerful blow.

**Senkou Suto **(閃 光スト, Flash Strike) – This technique is among the highest tier of techniques within the Kami Hikari-ryu (Divine Light Style). The user executes a simple draw cut at a speed far exceeding the speed of light. The technique is done so quickly that onlookers will have though it was instantaneous. The user starts in a position to perform the draw cut, then jumps forward while drawing their blade, slashes their opponent with the draw cut, and stops behind them with their blade extended in the proper position after performing a draw cut. This technique is usable by Divine Light Style Masters, Yoshika, and Aya.

**Drachenheim (Dragon Kingdom) Techniques (CFTech5)**

**Dragonwrath** – An immensely powerful lightning bolt attack usable only by Elizabeth Maya. At the level she was limited to in the War Simulation, the Dragonwrath bolt was ten kilometers in length and capable of razing everything within one hundred meters of its travel path. This technique is unique to Elizabeth Maya.

**Dragonstar **– An immensely powerful meteor style earth attack usable only by Michael Maya. At the level he was limited to in the War Simulation, the Dragonstar meteor was capable of the same ten kilometer long by one hundred meters wide destruction line as Elizabeth's Dragonwrath. This technique is unique to Michael Maya.

**Dragonfrost **– An immensely powerful freezing water attack usable only by Danielle Maya. At the level she was limited to in the War Simulation, the Dragonfrost water stream was capable of reaching ten kilometers long by one hundred meters wide before freezing into a solid mass of ice. This technique is unique to Danielle Maya.

**Helix Barrier** – An immensely powerful barrier consisting of Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, and Air. This barrier even with the War Simulation limits is very powerful, enough so to protect the casters and the Strike Witches from harm against Mavet's massive beam attack. This technique is unique to the Maya Group.

**God Techniques (CFTech6)**

**Mahou Shinten Taiho **(魔 法震天大砲, Magic Heaven Shaking Grand Cannon; Lit: Magic deafening cannon) – A powerful raw magic beam attack. Usable by those who specialize in Neutral Energy/Raw Magic techniques. Only Yami with her godly power can employ this technique at its true power. This is the signature technique of the Goddess of Energy, Yami Akari.

**Tenrai****Kurayami** (天来暗闇, Divine Darkness) – A powerful Dark Energy technique where the user engulfs himself and his opponent in a pillar of darkness brought down from the heavens. The user suffers no damage from the technique. This is the signature technique of the God of Darkness, Zen Akari.

**Dimensional Gate **and** Time Erasure** – Two powerful Space and Time techniques. While the Dimensional Gate technique is a basic Space technique, the Time Erasure technique is only available to the Goddess of Time and Space, Kaylie Maya. She dislikes the technique due to its nature of erasing its target from existence.

**Arrow of Disintegration** – A powerful Destruction technique capable of atomizing its target, even down to separating atomic compounds into individual atomic elements, such as splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. This is one signature technique of the Goddess of Creation and Destruction, Layla Maya.

**Flame of the Rising Sun** (旭日の焔, Kyokujitsu no Honō) – A powerful Solar technique where the user summons a solar flare from the sun to incinerate their opponent. This is a signature technique of the Sun Goddess Amaterasu.

**Seiken: Myobatsu **(聖 剣：冥罰, Holy Sword: Divine Retribution, Lit: Holy Sword: Divine Punishment) – A powerful Light Energy technique where the user swings their sword in a downward stroke, which brings down a blast of light energy from above that completely engulfs their opponent. This is the signature technique of the Goddess of Light, Rei Akari.

**Zen Wave Blast** – A simple and powerful energy blast technique that uses Zen Energy. This is a signature technique of the Seven Stars Goddess Kye Akari.

**Elder God Techniques (CFTech7)**

**Sacred Arrow** – This technique can only be performed by a witch born with True Zen Power. The arrow is a made of purely of True Zen Power. When performed, the arrow launches from the witch's bow with an incredible force that can generate a shockwave powerful enough to throw the user back a fair distance. The technique carries a power greater than the Zen Reppuzan when shot from a normal bow, but when shot from a bow of great power, it is said to have a power comparable to even the True Zen Reppuzan, though the truth in this is unknown as it has never been done. This technique is the pinnacle of bow spells. This technique was developed by and is unique to Yoshika Miyafuji.

**Celestial Arrow** – This technique is the Celestial Power variant of Sacred Arrow and is identical in all ways except for the requirement of Celestial Power to perform it, instead of True Zen. This technique was developed by and is unique to Aya Edelweiss, after being taught the principals of the Sacred Arrow technique by Yoshika Miyafuji.

**True Zen Reppuzan** (真全烈風斬, True Zen Gale Slash; Literal Romaji: Shin Zen Reppuzan; Literal English: True Complete Gale Slash) – This technique is known only to three mortals in all of history, Yuko Miyafuji, Yoshika "Yoshi" Miyafuji, and Yoshika Miyafuji, each born roughly five thousand years apart. The True Zen Reppuzan can only be performed by a witch born with True Zen Magic. The mortal Kye Miyafuji, being capable of True Zen through currently unknown means, is also capable of performing this technique. This technique is the pinnacle of blade spells.

**Celestial Reppuzan **– (天人烈風斬,Celestial Gale Slash; Literal Romaji: Tenjin Reppuzan) – This technique is the Celestial Power variant of the True Zen Reppuzan technique, This technique is known only to two mortals, those being Toshiro Edelweiss and Aya Edelweiss.

**Light Nova** – The original Light Nova, one of the Seven Primordial Techniques. This technique requires the user to land a blow on their opponent with their sword, even a flesh wound. Afterward, the user pulls their opponent's magic imprint from the sword and imbues it with their power, forming powerful energy ball. This can be done with Light Magic, Raw Magic, or Dark Magic, but is most effective with Zen Magic or True Zen. The user then launches the energy ball at their target, which it carries the target away and explodes. At mortal levels, the technique can carry the target several kilometers or miles away. At godly levels, the technique can launch the target off the planet. At Elder God levels, it can launch the target off the planet though it launches much further (possibly out of the solar system or beyond) and explodes much more powerfully (think a giant star explosion – super nova). This technique is only known by the Primordial Goddess, Kye Akari, and Kye Miyafuji.

**Himmlischer Tr****ü****mmerschlag **(Celestial Shattering Impact) – A technique unique to witches and wizards with both inherent Super Strength Type A magic and Celestial Power. After recently mastering the Großer Trümmerschlag with Trude, Toshiro invented this technique on the spot during his fight with High Commander Maris. He later taught this technique to Aya after she received her Blessing.

**Himmlischer Zauberstrahl** (Celestial Magic Beam) – An advanced version of the Zauberstrahl technique that requires either Celestial Order or Celestial Chaos). The beam is comprised entirely of celestial magic. This technique was invented by Toshiro while he had the Blessing of the Primordial Goddess that temporarily granted him mastery of Celestial Order and later taught to Aya when she was given the same temporary blessing.

**Chaos Cremation** – A technique specific to Celestial Chaos. When used, an enormous pillar of chaotic fire erupts up from the ground and engulfs everything around the user. The user is unharmed from the technique, but everything else is burned. Unique to Celestial Chaos users.

**Chaos Wave** – The user launches a power blast of Celestial Chaos energy at the target. Unique to Celestial Chaos users.

**Caelestis Telum **(Latin: Celestial Weapon) – A technique that requires a form of Celestial Power (Celestial Order, Celestial Chaos, or Celestial Equilibrium). Using his/her celestial power, the user imbues his/her weapon. The charged weapon can be used to launch long ranged power discharge attacks (similar to the Reppuzan) or significantly augment the power of the weapon itself. This technique is currently usable by any master of Celestial Power.  
**-Himmelsklinge** (Celestial Blade) – This technique is a sub-technique of the Caelestis Telum, developed by Aya Edelweiss and based on her Overdrive Magic, and given a German/Karlslander name as tribute to her heritage. This technique combines both the discharge and augmentation functions of the Caelestis Telum technique, but requires significantly more control and power to execute. When used, the user strikes the target with a standard melee strike using their blade with augmented power, but it also discharges a blast of Celestial Power for greater effectiveness. After seeing Aya employ the technique, Toshiro Edelweiss was able to learn it on the spot.

**Atomzerleger **(Atom Splitter; lit. Atom Dismantler) – A melee technique developed by Toshiro Edelweiss. When used, it envelops a single limb in a bright white light. The user then strikes the target with a powerful punch, and upon contact, the electrostatic forces (Coulomb Force), binding atoms are nullified, but at the same time the potential energy is also nullified, preventing a potential, and fatal to the user, hypernova from happening, but at the same time reducing the opponent to atomic dust. Requires a form of Celestial Power to affect Coulomb Force and Potential Energy, otherwise the technique will work the same as the Karlslander Trümmerschlag technique. This technique is unique to Toshiro Edelweiss.

* * *

**Spells (CFSpell)**

**Rune #11: Rune of the Twelve Signs**

**Spell Details**: This Spell appeared in Chapter 15: An Unexpected Visitor and was casted by Kye and Joey. Only the incantations that were spoken are displayed here. How this spell works is the user(s) speak-cast the initial incantation to form the base, then speak-cast the twelve pylon incantations to build the pylons around the base, and finally speak-cast the final incantation to finish the spell. Once finished, everything within the area of effect (which is several kilometers wide) is trapped and unable to leave the area. The user(s) can then target anything within the area of effect and it with the full power of the rune. The maximum output of this rune can reach anywhere from two to ten times the power of the caster, depending on how versed the caster is in high level rune magic.

**Initial Incantation**

Circulum in duodecim signorum! (Circle of the Twelve Signs!)  
Surge! Figura! Iungo! Transcende! (Rise. Form. Link. Transcend!)  
Da virtutis duodecim! (Release the power of the twelve!)

**First Pylon Incantation**

Uno de duodecim venit, (First of the Twelve,)  
Fero tui. (I summon your power.)  
Veni, ostendis potentiam tuam, (Come forth, show your power,)  
Tibi nomen: Aries! (I call your name: Aries!)

**Sixth Pylon Incantation**

Sexto de duodecim venit, (Sixth of the Twelve,)  
Fero tui. (I summon your power.)  
Veni, ostendis potentiam tuam, (Come forth, show your power,)  
Tibi nomen: Virgo! (I call your name: Virgo!)

**Infinite Spears of the Gods Light and Darkness**

**Spell Details**: This spell appeared in Chapter 21: Vi Et Animo and was casted by Rei and Zen. This spell is unique to the Goddess of Light Rei Akari, the God of Darkness Zen Akari, and those they bless with the ability to cast it. This spell requires one Light Energy Master and one Dark Energy Master to cast, which they must speak the incantation in sync. To begin, the users must join hands while standing (or floating in place) side by side. As the users speak the incantation, several spears of dark energy coated in light energy, dubbed darklight spears, will form around the users and begin multiplying. By the end of the incantation, the spears will have multiplied exponentially. If casted by mortals (or gods/immortals reduced to mortal status), the spears will number depending on the power used. In Chapter 21: Vi Et Animo, the spears numbered in the lower thousands. When casted by the Goddess of Light and God of Darkness, the spears can number well into the millions and beyond. To finish the spell, the users speak the name and will the spears toward their target(s).

**Incantation**

"Reach the depth of darkness,  
"Oust the root of evil."  
"Let shine the brightest light,  
"That cast the darkest shadow."  
"Chastity and Lust,  
"Temperance and Gluttony,  
"Charity and Greed,  
"Diligence and Sloth,  
"Patience and Wrath,  
"Kindness and Envy,  
"Humility and Pride,  
"Virtue and Sin."  
"Open the Hand of Light."  
"Open the Hand of Darkness."

**Sanctum of the Light Goddess**

**Spell Details**: This spell appeared in Chapter 21: Vi Et Animo and was casted by Kamiko. To cast this spell, the user must be masterful in Light Energy. The user forms light orbs in each hand and throws them in opposite directions. The orbs then split into several more orbs while the user speaks the incantation. The orbs form a makeshift sphere around the target. Once the incantation is completed, the orbs connect in a glorified connect-the-dots fashion and form a solid sphere of light. The user then speaks the name of the spell to finish, after which the sphere will contract on the target with a bright flash of light and deal major damage. This user of this spell must be blessed by the Goddess of Light to be capable of casting it.

**Incantation**

"Light from above,  
"Light from below."  
"Light that shines,  
"With golden glow."  
"Come forth now,  
"The light's bestow."  
"I invoke thy power,  
"Destroy thy foe!"

* * *

**Mind Reading (CFMind)**

It is possible to read a person's thoughts, providing proper training. It is also possible to block others from reading one's own thoughts, providing proper training.

Any Immortal, regardless of mortal status (be it a Rebirth, Immortal Seal, or just their actual Immortal form) can hear the thoughts of anyone on their tier or below.

Any God, regardless of mortality status (Rebirth, Immortal Seal, or Godly form, but NOT Mortal Imprisonment) can hear the thoughts of anyone on their tier or below.

Mortals cannot read minds, regardless of proper training, but they can be trained to block out Immortals, both on the same tier and the tier above. Same tier immortals (Immortals that are currently in a mortal form) cannot penetrate that block, but Immortals in the tier above (that are in their normal immortal form) can penetrate the block with enough effort, though not passively. However, they will usually not do so out of respect for the mortal's desire for privacy.

Tiers  
1\. Elder Gods  
2\. Gods  
3\. Immortals  
4\. Mortals, Rebirths, Immortal Seals, and Mortal Imprisonments

It should be noted that those with the magic "Telepathy" can read and probe another's mind on the same tier or below without fail, though usually just prefer to use it as a means of nonverbal communication. The only known users are the Venturi Sisters (Liliana and Aliana/Shadow).

* * *

**Inherent Abilities (CFInher)**

Note: Inherent abilities of anyone from the Light Kingdom will not be listed here due to not being witch magic, but immortal magic adapted to witch standards. Similarly, True Zen and Celestial magic will not be listed here either, due to being Elder God powers.

**Creation Magic**

**Miyafuji Type  
**-Base Level – Healing  
-Ultimate Level – Greater Healing  
-Yoshika's Ultimate Magic Aura – Divine Restoration

**Vision Magic**

**Sakamoto Type  
**-Base Level – Magic Eye  
-Ultimate Level – Obliteration  
-Mio's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Eye of Destruction

**Galland Type  
**-Base Level – Magic Eye  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Keiko Katou Type  
**-Base Level – Super Vision  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Ballistic Magic**

**Bishop Type  
**-Base Level – Ballistic Stabilization  
-Ultimate Level – Ballistic Missile  
-Lynette's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Ballistic Surge

**Marseille Type  
**-Base Level – Deflection Shooting  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Elemental Magic**

**Clostermann Type  
**-Base Level – Tonnerre (French/Gallian: Thunder)  
-Ultimate Level – Plusieurs Tonnerre (French: More Thunder)  
-Perrine's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Orage (French: Thunderstorm

**Mei Akiyama Type  
**-Base Level – Fireball  
-Ultimate Level – Fire Storm

**Kiyoko Akiyama Type  
**-Base Level – Freeze  
-Ultimate Level – Blizzard

**Hartmann Type  
**-Base Level – Sturm (German/Karlslander: Storm)  
-Ultimate Level – Großer Sturm (German: Greater Storm)  
-Erica's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Sturmschlag (German: Stormstrike)

**Lucchini Type  
**-Base Level – Sunlight Strike  
-Ultimate Level – Explosion Strike  
-Francesca's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Solar Storm

**Anabuki Type  
**-Base Level - Hakushoku Denkou (白色電光/White Lightning)  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Strength Magic**

**Barkhorn Type (Type A)  
**-Base Level – Super Strength  
-Ultimate Level – Ultimate Strength  
-Gertrude's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Transcendent Strength

**Speed Magic**

**Yeager Type  
**-Base Level – Speed Boost  
-Ultimate Level – Speed Control  
-Shirley's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Speed Force

**Time Magic**

**Juutilainen Type  
**-Base Level – Foresight  
-Ultimate Level – Influence  
-Eila's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Sovereign Prophecy

**Edelweiss Type  
**-Base Level – Time Dilution  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Space Magic**

**Wilcke Type  
**-Base Level – Space Understanding  
-Ultimate Level – Area Destruction  
-Minna's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Absolute Analysis

**Litvyak Type  
**-Base Level – Magic Antenna  
-Ultimate Level – Advanced Radar  
-Sanya's Ultimate Magic Aura Technique – Spectroscopic Radar

**Awakening Magic**

**Wakamoto Type  
**-Base Level – Awakening  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

**Inspiration Magic**

**Takei Type  
**-Base Level – Inspiration  
-Ultimate Level – Name Not Revealed

* * *

**Universes (CFWorld)**

**Seven Stars Multiverse **\- Contains seven individual universes, home to Kye Akari and various others. The four realms below have been mentioned or featured.  
-**Light Realm** \- One Universe of the Seven Stars, home of the Light Kingdom and the Akari Royal Family  
-**Drachenheim** \- One Universe of the Seven Stars, home of the Dragon Kingdom and the Maya Royal Family  
-**Mortal Realm** \- One Universe of the Seven Stars, home of Earth and the Atlantis Royal Family. Not the same earth that is home to the witches.  
-**God Realm **\- One Universe of the Seven Stars, home of the Seven Stars Pantheon. The War Simulation planet existed in this realm and is the primary setting of Legendary Witches 3.

**Seven Stars World 1A** \- Also known as "The First World". One of the many universes belonging to the Seven Stars Pantheon. This universe was the first additional universe created by Lady Kye roughly 14 billion years ago. This universe is the primary setting of Legendary Witches 1 and home of Champion Yoshika Miyafuji.

**Seven Stars World 1B **\- Also known as "The Second World". A copy of World 1A, this world was created after the event of Legendary Witches 2 to keep the integrity of the original World 1 timeline that did not have the Third Neuroi War and the alternate World 1 timeline where the Third Neuroi War took place. This world is home to the 511th Joint Fighter Wing and 516th Joint Fighter Wing, who are descendants of many of the Second Neuroi War veterans.

**Toshiro's Universe** \- A universe belonging to Lord Adam the Allgod, meant to be his final creation before killing himself. Unbeknownst to all but the Elder Gods and the Primordial Goddess, he did not die, but went into slumber in a severely weakened state. This universe is home to Champion Toshiro Edelweiss and Champion Aya Edelweiss.

**Seven Stars World 27** \- One of the many universes belonging to the Seven Stars Pantheon. No person from the Seven Stars has entered this universe.

**Seven Stars World 98** \- One of the many universes belonging to the Seven Stars Pantheon. This universe is a copy of World 27 created by Lady Kye in which to send a mortal incarnation of herself, another Kye Miyafuji, at a younger age and a cousin to Yoshika Miyafuji, rather than an aunt.

**Azaria** \- One of the countless universes belonging to the Primordial Goddess. This universe is the home of the Azaran People. Not much else is known about it.

**Mavet's Universe** \- A universe belonging to Mavet. It serves as his primary home where he lives with Maeve and Maia. Not much else is known about this universe, though Mavet claims it is a paradise.

* * *

**Thanks**

**Thanks to everyone who read the story and thanks to everyone on this list. This list was comprised on 17-January-2015, a little later than the final update to give the dedicated readers time to finish up their reading, post their final reviews, ect. **

**Special Thanks**

**Atikabubu** \- For being a fart...  
**Seiko1979** \- For the Tsukiko!  
**An0n Author** \- For the Hype!

**Thanks for Reading!**

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